December 1, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Negotiations with Qatari and Egyptian mediators over the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are still ongoing, a source familiar with the talks told CNN, even after Israel’s military announced the resumption of combat operations in Gaza early Friday. 

An hour past the 7 a.m. local time expiration of the truce, none of the main parties involved – Hamas, Qatar, Israel, the US or Egypt – had publicly declared a breakdown in the talks.

Negotiations had been aimed at extending the seven-day pause in the war.

Under the terms of a previously struck agreement, Hamas had been expected to propose an eighth list of hostages — 10 women and children to be released on Friday in exchange for an extra day of pause.

Israel has demanded that Hamas release women and children, alive, before moving on to other groups of hostages.

Israel had warned that full-scale military operations would resume once the current phase of hostage releases ends. But US officials have said talks will continue regardless to free the remaining hostages.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Hours before Israel said it had resumed combat operations against Hamas, the United States pressured its ally to shield Palestinian civilians in one of the most significant diplomatic moves yet in the more than 50-day conflict.

The question now, if a seven-day truce is permanently broken, is whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is prepared to listen.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken laid out American requirements both at a televised press conference in Tel Aviv and in private talks in Jerusalem with Netanyahu and his war cabinet.

Blinken's frank tone suggests that the White House is not completely buying Israel’s assurances that it takes every possible step to alleviate civilian casualties in its response to the October 7 Hamas terror attack that killed 1,200 people.

Blinken noted bluntly, for instance, that he told Netanyahu: “Intent matters. But so does the result.”

Blinken said that Netanyahu had agreed to take steps to protect civilians. But two key questions now will be whether those efforts are genuine and effective and to what extent the Israeli prime minister and his military brass are willing to accommodate US concerns.

Read more about the US approach here.

Israeli strikes have resumed in areas across Gaza, according to a statement from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior.

It follows the break down of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas on Friday.

An earlier statement from the ministry said that strikes had landed in southern Gaza, in the areas of Khan Younis and Rafah.

The ministry also noted earlier that Israeli military vehicles were firing in northwest Gaza minutes after the truce expired.

Minutes after a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas broke down on Friday, Israeli military vehicles were firing in northwest Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior in Gaza.

In a statement, the ministry also said Israeli aircraft were in the skies above the area.

The statement from Hamas comes as the Israeli military said it had resumed combat operations against the militant group, accusing it of violating the truce agreement by firing toward Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has resumed combat operations against Hamas, accusing the militant group of violating the truce agreement by firing toward Israel.

The truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to have expired Friday with no immediate sign of an agreement being reached to further extend the hostage deal to an eighth day.  

It is not yet clear whether this means that fighting will resume in the Gaza Strip, which suffered extensive damage and loss of life during seven weeks of Israeli bombardment. 

An hour before Friday’s deadline was set to expire Israel’s aerial defense system intercepted one rocket launched from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said. There was no indication of who launched the single rocket. 

The truce, which started last Friday, was expected to expire at 7 a.m. local time (12 a.m. ET). An agreement to extend to a seventh day came down to the wire on Thursday. 

Some context: Egyptian and Qatari negotiators had been pushing to extend the pause in fighting in Gaza for an extra two days to facilitate the release of further hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and to allow more aid into the strip, according to Egypt's State Information Service. 

Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that a condition of any extension to the pause in fighting is that Hamas must release 10 Israeli women and children held hostage per day.  

Under the terms of the deal, Israel freed three Palestinians for every Israeli hostage released.  

As the truce expiration loomed both Israel and Hamas have indicated they’re prepared for fighting to resume.

Hamas’ military wing on Thursday asked its forces to maintain a high-combat readiness posture.

In the seven-day pause in fighting, 80 Israelis — primarily women and children and some of whom are dual citizens — and another 24 foreign nationals have been released. Another Israeli dual citizen was also freed outside of the agreed-upon deal. 

As of Thursday, 240 Palestinians had been freed from Israeli prisons — mainly women and minors.  

An uneasy truce between Israel and Hamas that has lasted for seven days is set to expire again at around 7 a.m. local time Friday (midnight ET).

Just over an hour before the truce was set to expire, the Israeli military said its air defense system intercepted one rocket launched from Gaza.

The pause in fighting has brought temporary respite to those in the besieged enclave of Gaza and led to the release of dozens of hostages, the freeing of Palestinians from Israeli jails and the ratcheting up of much-needed humanitarian supplies to the strip.

The truce, which started last Friday, was only renewed at the last minute for the seventh day on Thursday after a tense and lengthy back-and-forth.

Both sides are in a day-to-day extension phase of the agreement under which Hamas must offer up a new list of 10 hostages to be released to secure another 24 hours in the pause in fighting. 

The military wing of Hamas is calling for its forces to remain on “high combat readiness” in case combat resumes, a statement said.

Here's what you should know to get up to speed:

The Israeli military's air defense system intercepted one rocket launched from the Gaza Strip just over an hour before the truce between Israel and Hamas is set to expire, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said early Friday local time.

There is no indication of who launched the single rocket.

Rocket sirens have been heard in the Sderot area in the final hours of the seven-day truce.  

The current agreement between Israel and Hamas is set to expire at 7 a.m. local time Friday (midnight ET).

This post has been updated with additional information.

Israeli officials obtained a document describing Hamas’ battle plan for its October 7 terror attack more than a year before the militant group carried out the assault, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing documents, emails and interviews. 

The roughly 40-page document did not give a date for the attack, but outlined “point by point” the kind of deadly incursion that Hamas carried out in Israeli territory in October, according to the Times, which reviewed the translated document.

Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan, assessing that it would be too difficult for Hamas to carry out, according to the Times.

The document, which the Israeli authorities code-named “Jericho Wall,” detailed an assault that would overwhelm fortifications around the Gaza Strip, take over Israeli cities and target key military bases. It was followed with precision by Hamas on October 7, the Times said.

On that day, Hamas militants struck across the border from Gaza in a coordinated assault taking more than 200 hostages and killing around 1,200 people – the largest such attack on Israel since the country’s founding in 1948. 

The attack was widely seen a major Israeli intelligence failure, with a number of top defense and security officials coming forward in October to take responsibility to some extent for missteps that led to the attacks. 

Later that month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received sharp public criticism after he accused security chiefs in a later-deleted social media post of failing to warn him about the impending attack.

“On the contrary, all the defense officials … assessed that Hamas was deterred,” Netanyahu wrote at the time.

According to the Times, the “Jericho Wall” document was circulated widely among Israeli military and intelligence leaders, but it was unclear whether Netanyahu or other top political leaders saw the document.