Intense flares illuminate skies of Gaza late Thursday night
From CNN's Nic Robertson in Sderot, Israel
Flares and explosions are seen in Gaza, as Nic Robertson reports from Sderot, Israel, on November 2. CNN
The skies of northern Gaza were illuminated by flares and explosions as the bombardment intensified late Thursday night.
CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson in Sderot, Israel, saw missiles raining down on Gaza for more than 30 minutes, with multiple flares illuminating the night sky. The volume of flares was more intense than had been seen in the past weeks since October 7.
The focus of the flares appears to be in the northern Gaza area of Beit Hanoun, around 2.5 miles from Sderot, Robertson said.
CNN’s Ben Wedeman, who has reported for years in the Gaza Strip, described Beit Hanoun, which is not as populous as nearby Gaza City, as one of the areas that has traditionally experienced the first military moves by the Israel Defense Forces during past operations.
There also appears to be a smoke screen covering the ground suggesting the possible movement of troops in the areas.
Robertson said it appeared that two rockets were fired out of Gaza during this time. Artillery fire was also heard nearby.
Mark Regev, senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer the Israeli military is keeping up the pressure on Hamas.
"We are hitting its military machine," Regev said. "Our goal is to destroy Hamas' military machine and to dismantle its political control over Gaza."
Regev said he could not provide further details, as the operation is ongoing.
The intensified fire comes after the Israeli military announced they had encircled Gaza City.
1:29 a.m. ET, November 3, 2023
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 the enclave 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. UNRWA may also be unable to move its trucks in Gaza to provide humanitarian assistance.
The agency now needs to look at what other fuel is available in the strip, Lazzarini told 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 said, adding that over the past 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.
8:38 p.m. ET, November 2, 2023
Israeli military has encircled Gaza City, IDF says
From CNN's Tamar Michaelis
The Israeli military has completed its encirclement of Gaza City, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) 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, IDF 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.
10:52 p.m. ET, November 2, 2023
"The smell of death is everywhere": Israeli strikes and fuel shortages leave Gaza's hospitals overwhelmed
From CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim and Abeer Salman
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 1.5 million people in Gaza were internally displaced as of Thursday, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Nearly 700,000 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 the facility is the site of a major Hamas command and control center.
US secretary of state says he will discuss "concrete steps" with Israel on minimizing civilian harm
From CNN's Haley Brtizky and Jennifer Hansler
Antony Blinken talks to reporters prior to boarding his aircraft at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on his way to the Middle East and Asia on November 2. Jonathan Ernst/AFP/Getty Images
US 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 reiterated that the topic is on the agenda for the visit. Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, 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,” Blinken 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 this was "a crossfire ... of Hamas' making."
Blinken departed 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.
1:33 a.m. ET, November 3, 2023
Inside the negotiations to allow foreigners to leave Gaza
From CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, Jennifer Hansler and MJ Lee
Palestinians with dual citizenship show their passports while seeking permission to leave Gaza at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, on November 1. Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The breakthrough that allowed an initial group of foreign nationals, including US citizens, to depart Gaza on Wednesday came together after weeks of intensive, multi-party diplomatic efforts, sources familiar with the negotiations told CNN.
The agreement to allow foreign passport holders and a group of critically injured civilians to depart through the Rafah border crossing was reached on Tuesday, prior to the Israeli forces’ airstrike that hit Gaza’s largest refugee camp.
Qatar, which coordinated with the United States, was the key broker of the deal between Israel, Egypt, and Hamas, according to sources familiar with the talks.
The development was hailed as a critical first step in getting foreign nationals out of the war-torn strip as Israel intensifies its military operations there.
Though US officials have stressed that the situation remains fluid, they have expressed optimism that hundreds more will be able to depart in the coming days.
Complex deal: The negotiations were consistently described as immensely complicated, and the breakthrough came after “intense and urgent American diplomacy with our partners in the region,” President Joe Biden said Wednesday.
The initial hold up to allow foreign nationals to depart Gaza involved Egypt — which wanted an international organization to serve as administrator and vet people before their departure from Gaza, a source familiar told CNN.
The negotiators worked with the United Nations and eventually got them to agree to serve in that role.
However, they could not get guarantees from Hamas that they would not harass or interfere with the UN officials, nor would they agree to allow them to operate on the Gaza side of the border, which is what Egypt wanted.
Instead, Hamas wanted the UN officials to be on the Egyptian side of the border, which Cairo would not accept because of security concerns.
Despite days of negotiations, the negotiators could not get Hamas to agree to what Egypt wanted, so then the focus turned to potential other routes out.
Negotiators were cognizant that time was not on their side. The Israelis agreed that they would allow foreign nationals to depart through Kerem Shalom, but Hamas continued to be the issue.
There had been attempts by some countries to get small groups of civilians out through that route, but the people had been blocked by Hamas.
In recent days, Egypt dropped its demand to have a third-party administrator over the Rafah gate, and Hamas — which had been engaging with Qatar — agreed to allow its border authority to operate the gate.
Allowing wounded Palestinian civilians to leave was always part of the discussion.
A list was sent to Qatar, Egypt and Israel — each country was able to vet the list and make deletions.
Originally, Israel only wanted wounded women and children to be allowed to depart and the US had to push them to drop those preconditions. The Israelis initially pushed back hard on this but after many senior level discussions between the US and Israel they relented.
There are at least 6,000 people believed to be on the list of those who are able to leave through the Rafah border crossing — that list was vetted by Israel and Egypt.
Those people have nationalities from more than 40 countries, as well as locally employed staff, those tied to aid organizations and NGOs and the press.
