Key UN relief agency says its fuel supplies in Gaza are completely depleted
From CNN's Christiane Amanpour team and Amy Cassidy in London
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini attends a meeting in Rafah after crossing into the Palestinian enclave through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on November 1. Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images
The head of the main United Nations agency in Gaza said on Thursday that its fuel supplies are “completely depleted,” and the last remaining public services in Gaza have "completely collapsed."
The lack of fuel means the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will not be able to supply hospitals, the water station and bakeries "in the coming days," said Philippe Lazzarini, the agency's commissioner general. The agency may also be unable to move its trucks within the Gaza Strip to provide humanitarian assistance.
The UNRWA now needs to look at what other fuel is available in the strip, Lazzarini said in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
"There was commercial fuel, which was available, and there was also fuel which was brought in by the international community to supply the electric plant," he explained, adding that over the last week the agency has also worked with Israeli officials through deconfliction channels to pick up fuel reserves.
Collapse of public services: The last remaining public services in Gaza have "completely collapsed," the UN official said, and the "handful" of aid trucks currently being allowed to enter the territory "basically don't do anything to reverse the fact" Gaza is "being strangled by the siege."
"It's extremely sad to see how much now this population is completely dependent on an international humanitarian community, which is not in a position anymore to deliver at scope what they need," Lazzarini said, adding that, "Hunger is turning into anger."
Claims on Hamas' fuel reserves: Amanpour asked the relief agency leader about reports that Hamas was storing and hoarding fuel.
The Israel Defense Forces has maintained publicly that Hamas holds significant amounts of fuel for its military operations — and that it is not using the supplies to provide for the humanitarian needs of Gaza civilians.
"What I can tell you is that no one right now is taking care of the civilian need. When it comes to the fuel, I have no idea what the military build-up has been of Hamas in the Gaza Strip," Lazzarini said.
3:00 p.m. ET, November 2, 2023
The Israeli military has encircled Gaza City, IDF spokesman says
From CNN's Tamar Michaelis
The Israeli military has completed its encirclement of Gaza City, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Thursday.
The Israeli engineering corps is now working to locate and neutralize underground infrastructure, explosives and other threats to allow the IDF to move freely in the area, Hagari said.
Earlier Thursday, Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the Israeli military is surrounding Gaza City and "deepening" its operations there.
“Our forces are in very significant areas of Gaza City,” Halevi said.
3:09 p.m. ET, November 2, 2023
Egyptian foreign minister slams Israeli intel document proposing relocation of Gazans to Egypt as "ludicrous"
From CNN's Kyle Blaine
Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry speaks to CNN's Christiane Amanpour. CNN
Egypt's foreign minister on Thursday told CNN that a leaked Israeli intelligence ministry document that proposed the relocation of millions of Palestinians to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt was a "ludicrous proposition."
"I don’t think we would — anyone would — raise such a ludicrous proposition," Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "If that was the case, maybe the United States would also contemplate providing the same access to its southern border that might be expected for us in the Sinai."
The document — downplayed earlier this week by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — proposes relocating Gaza’s civilian population to the northern Sinai, arguing such a plan would be best for Israel’s long-term security. Tent cities would be constructed in the area under the plan, with more permanent cities being constructed at a later date.
The plan also calls for a humanitarian corridor to aid the resettled population and a security perimeter be created to prevent them from entering Israel.
Shoukry told Amanpour he had not communicated with Israel about the plan.
"States are sovereign and they are well-defined by their borders, by their populations. And the issue of displacement in itself is a matter that is in contravention, is in violation of international humanitarian law," Shoukry said. "So I think that nobody would undertake an illegal activity."
Netanyahu's office downplayed the document in a statement, writing, "This is a preliminary paper, like dozens of such papers prepared by all political and security echelons."
“The ‘day after’ is a topic that has not been discussed by official Israeli channels, which are now focused on dismantling Hamas' governing and military abilities," the statement added.
3:09 p.m. ET, November 2, 2023
"The smell of death is everywhere": Gaza’s hospitals overwhelmed amid Israeli strikes and fuel shortages
From CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim and Abeer Salman
Palestinian paramedics cry outside Al-Shifa hopsital in Gaza City on October 16. Dawood Nemer/AFP/Getty Images
In Al Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, a dazed and drowsy woman sits on the floor with a bleeding leg. A younger man lies flat on blood-stained tiles, his neck and legs wrapped in bandages.
The rest of the emergency room on Tuesday was crowded with men, women and children of different ages — some crying, some trembling and some asleep on makeshift beds on the floor.
“The situation in hospitals is miserable … (it) makes you weep,” Rajaa Musleh, a 50-year-old woman sheltering at Al Shifa told CNN on Thursday.
“There is no equipment, people are piled up on top of one another,” said Musleh, who is also Gaza’s country representative for the MedGlobal healthcare charity.
Musleh lost her home in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and says that soon there won’t be any fuel left to power this hospital, which is housing both patients and the countless displaced who have nowhere else to go.
More than 1.4 million people in Gaza were internally displaced as of Wednesday, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. More than half a million are seeking refuge in facilities run by the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which are accommodating numbers three times their intended capacity.
Piles of both trash and people line the hospital’s corridors, Musleh said, with many “sleeping on the floors because residents feel hospitals are safe.”
The smell of death is everywhere,” she said. “The smell of blood is everywhere.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah warned Wednesday that the medical complex would be out of service in less than 24 hours as it runs out of the fuel needed to power generators.
Located in Gaza City, Al Shifa hospital is also becoming part of the front line, as Israel last week claimed that the facility is the site of a major Hamas command and control center.
Hospital staff are exhausted, Dr. Alaa Shitali, a medical officer at Al Shifa’s emergency department, told CNN Tuesday.
“You couldn’t, as a human being and a medical officer, bear this situation,” he said, standing in the emergency department, surrounded by patients.
Shitali has not seen his family for days and has to spend his nights at the hospital to treat the massive crowd of patients constantly flowing in. “We are overloaded,” he said.
Doctors at Al Shifa are also seeing children with the majority of their body and faces burned, missing limbs and other “catastrophic injuries,” said Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care and humanitarian doctor with the aid group Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières.
“And the doctors are left to treat them with limited pain control, (as they are) running out of anesthetic drugs.” she told CNN. “We do not have enough antibiotics to treat wound infections, we don’t have enough dressings.”
The few other remaining hospitals in Gaza are also suffering, with some completely shutting down.
Blinken says he will discuss "concrete steps" with Israel on minimizing civilian harm
From CNN's Haley Brtizky and Jennifer Hansler
Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks to reporters prior boarding his aircraft to depart Washington on travel to the Middle East and Asia at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Thursday. Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Reuters
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss steps Israel “can and should” take to minimize civilian casualties during his upcoming visit to Tel Aviv.
“[W]e will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women, and children in Gaza, and this is something that the United States is committed to,” Blinken said Thursday.
While the secretary didn't offer any other details, he did reiterate that the topic is on the agenda for the visit. Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders of the Israeli government, according to the State Department.
“When I see a Palestinian child, a boy or a girl pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building, that hits me in the gut as much as seeing a child in Israel or anywhere else. So this is something that we have an obligation to respond to, and we will,” he said.
Asked if Israel had shown restraint in its offensive in Gaza, Blinken did not offer a yes or no answer, and instead reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself and the "responsibility to do everything possible to protect civilians."
He said that this was "a crossfire ... of Hamas' making."
Blinken leaves Thursday for a trip to Israel, Jordan, Japan, South Korea and India. He emphasized again on the tarmac ahead of his trip that the US is “determined to deter any escalation.”
Blinken also added that there must be a focus on what comes next.
“We do have to have conversations now about how we can best set the conditions for a durable, sustainable peace, durable, sustainable security for Israelis and Palestinians alike," he said.
CNN's Michael Conte contributed reporting to this post.
1:56 p.m. ET, November 2, 2023
Israel's military says it is surrounding Gaza City as refugee camps reel from airstrikes. Here's the latest
From CNN Staff
Israel continues to deploy soldiers, tanks and armored vehicles near the Gaza border in Sderot, Israel, on November 2. Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu/Getty Images
The Israeli military is surrounding Gaza City and "deepening" its operations there, the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff said in a TV interview Thursday.
“Our soldiers have been operating in Gaza City for the past few days, surrounding it from several directions, deepening the operation,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said. “Our forces are in very significant areas of Gaza City.”
The Israeli army began its full ground operation in Gaza on Friday, moving tanks, bulldozers, infantry, and combat engineer units into the strip. While the ground operation around Gaza's largest population center has developed slowly, Israel has maintained its constant bombardment of the strip by air.
Devastating Israeli strikes: Israel bombed the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza for the second time in two days Wednesday, prompting warnings of war crimes from the international community. The round of strikes that began Wednesday evening continued into Thursday morning, medical officials and relief workers told CNN. The latest attacks killed more than 20 people sheltering at United Nations schools in Jabalya and the Al Shati refugee camp Thursday, the head of the main UN relief agency working in the enclave told CNN.
At least9,025 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, according to figures released Thursday by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, drawn from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave. More than 22,000 others have been wounded.
Palestinians check the destruction a day after an Israeli strike in the Jabalya camp for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, on November 1. Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images
Crisis at Gaza hospitals: Airstrikes also hit the vicinity of the Al Quds hospital in Gaza City, where doctors say up to 14,000 displaced people are sheltering, according to the director of the hospital. Nearly half of all hospitals in Gaza are out of service due to bombardments and fuel shortages, including the leading cancer hospital in the strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. It warned on Wednesday Gaza’s largest hospital Al Shifa would be forced to stop operating soon.
Piles of both trash and people line the Al Shifa hospital’s corridors, according to a woman sheltering there, with many “sleeping on the floors because residents feel hospitals are safe.”
“The smell of death is everywhere,” she said. “The smell of blood is everywhere.”
An American pediatrician who crossed into Egypt after being stuck in Gaza told CNN on Thursday she and others from her group were staying in United Nations facilities that were filled with Gazans seeking refuge, adding the amount of toilets and water “inadequate for the tens of thousands of people who showed up.”
US President Joe Biden – who has offered full-throated support for Israel but increasingly raised concerns about the situation in Gaza – called for a humanitarian “pause” in the war to allow aid to reach civilians and help facilitate the release of hostages.
Israeli hostages: The number of hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza after the October 7 attacks in Israel has been updated to 242, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Thursday morning. Israel's expansion of ground operations has complicated efforts to free the hostages. Hagari added that 332 IDF soldiers have died since October 7.
More foreigners cross out of Gaza: More foreign nationals have made their way out of Gaza and into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, with 341 having crossed on Thursday, an Egyptian border official told CNN — a figure that includes American citizens. Here is a breakdown by country. The deal allowing people to leave Gaza came together after weeks of intensive, multi-party diplomatic efforts, sources familiar with the negotiations told CNN.
Clashes at Israel-Lebanon border: The IDF said it was responding to multiple launches Thursday from Lebanon toward Israeli territory. A CNN team in northern Israel saw an increase in the pace of rocket fire from Lebanon today, with Israel's Iron Dome engaging with two of them. Israel and Hezbollah — an Iran-backed armed group that dominates southern Lebanon — have been engaged in daily cross-border exchanges of fire since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas on October 7, raising fears that the fighting could escalate into a regional war.
Diplomatic news: US Vice President Kamala Harris met Thursday with UN Secretary General António Guterres, focusing mostly on Gaza humanitarian access and aid deliveries, according to a White House official. Meanwhile, officials said newly confirmed US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew will travel with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel Thursday. Earlier today and Wednesday, international backlash grew in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza and the Jabalya strikes. Jordan and Bahrain have recalled their ambassadors to Israel, while the United Nations Human Rights Office warned strikes on the refugee camp “could amount to war crimes.”
1:38 p.m. ET, November 2, 2023
US intelligence currently assesses Iran and its proxies so far are seeking to avoid a wider war with Israel
From CNN's Katie Bo Lillis
The United States intelligence community believes – for now – that Iran and its proxies are calibrating their response to Israel’s military intervention in Gaza to avoid direct conflict with Israel or the US while still exacting costs on its adversaries.
But the US is also keenly aware that Iran does not maintain perfect control of its umbrella of proxies – in particular over Lebanese Hezbollah, the largest and most capable of the various groups. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas, the group that attacked Israel on October 7, and has long positioned itself as fighting against Israel. US officials are deeply concerned that the group’s internal politics may cause Hezbollah to escalate simmering tensions.
The US also does not always have perfect visibility into the communications between Iran and its various proxies, according to sources familiar with US intelligence in the region.
“The problem is the proxies are not all equally deferential to Tehran — lumping them together is a mistake,” said Jonathan Panikoff, a former senior intelligence analyst specializing in the region. “The question is, if Hamas really looks like it’s in trouble, will Hezbollah and Iran agree on Hezbollah launching a full-scale attack to save Hamas or are they going to disagree — and I don’t think we know that yet.”
Tehran knows that if Hezbollah escalates the conflict with Israel or the United States it would likely provoke direct counterattacks against Iran that could be devastating to it, said one US official, who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity. The kind of lower-level attacks that different proxy groups have launched against Israel and the US since October 7 have caused the US to deploy significant military assets, forced Israel to spread out its forces and munitions, and allowed Iran to be seen as “doing something” about the killing of Palestinians in Gaza, this person said — all while avoiding direct conflict.
US officials believe it’s a coordinated strategy. The Iranian military general in charge of managing Iran’s web of proxies has been in and out of Beirut since October 7, according to local media, where he has been in meetings with members of Hezbollah, Hamas, and other Iranian-supported groups. All consider themselves part of the “Axis of Resistance” against Israel.
But that strategy could backfire in ways that cause the conflict to spread – even if none of the parties want it to, multiple US officials warn.
Senior Biden administration officials have repeatedly and publicly warned Iran and its proxies not to escalate the conflict. The president in the days after the attack said his message to Iran and Hezbollah was: “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.”
Over 70 staff members of UN aid agency killed in Gaza since war began, head says
From CNN's Christiane Amanpour and Amy Cassidy
The chief of the main United Nations aid agency in Gaza said on Thursday that 72 of its staff members have been killed in the enclave since the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7.
"We have lost as of now 72 staff," Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), told CNN.
He continued by saying that UNRWA staff in Gaza are "sharing the same living condition(s) ... (as) anyone else."
"They're struggling on a daily basis to find the bread, to find the water, to protect their children. And despite that, and despite the heavy loss within this organization, they remain committed to do whatever is possible to provide support to the people in Gaza. But it's a constant daily struggle," Lazzarini said.
On Wednesday, UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma echoed that sentiment, saying "no place is safe" in Gaza. Some staff workers were killed "in the line of duty and some were killed at home," she said.
1:12 p.m. ET, November 2, 2023
Turkey offers to transfer and take in patients from Gaza hospital that had to cease operations
From CNN's Hande Atay Alam
Turkey is ready to provide full support for the transfer of patients from the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza to Turkey, the country's health minister said on Thursday.
The Israeli attacks continue “despite all our warnings and calls to the relevant institutions and the international community,” Koca added. "The international community has to make a choice between knowingly abandoning patients to death and saving lives." "Now, saving the lives of patients is an inevitable duty. The only alternative to saving patients' lives is knowingly abandoning them to death," he said.
On Monday, the director of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital told CNN an Israeli strike directly hit the third floor of its central building, causing damage to oxygen and water supplies.
The Israeli military said it did not strike the hospital, without offering any further information.
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.
