December 11, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Israeli troops are encircling Hamas’s last two strongholds in northern Gaza, according to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

He claimed that Hamas battalions in the Jabalya and Shejaiya areas were “on the verge of dismantling. The number of those who surrender that come out of these places shows us what’s happening.”

Gallant also asserted that those Hamas fighters who have surrendered have said they are short of weapons and food.

Gallant made similar comments on Friday about the Israeli military’s progress, when he said he saw signs that Hamas is "beginning to break inside Gaza.”

In a separate development, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) announced that more than 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters had been apprehended over the past month “and transferred for further questioning by the ISA and Unit 504,” referring to an intelligence unit of the Israeli military.

Since the end of the pause in the fighting, just over a week ago, about 140 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants have been detained in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

For the first time, the IDF also published photographs of alleged militants who had surrendered.

Unlike a series of videos that emerged last week of men having apparently surrendered to Israeli forces, which showed them stripped to their underwear, the two still photographs published Monday showed men fully clothed.

US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller on Monday reiterated concern about a report that Israel has used white phosphorous in southern Lebanon.

"Anytime that we provide items like white phosphorus or really anything to another military, we do it with the expectation that it will be used for legitimate purposes and in fully keeping with humanitarian law and law of armed conflict," he said. 

Miller said that the US is looking into the matter and "for additional information."

CNN is unable to confirm the use of phosphorous munitions. In a previous statement to CNN, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it uses “only legal weapons and ammunition.”

Israel's history with white phosphorus: Israel previously faced widespread criticism for firing white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas during a Gaza offensive that began in late 2008. HRW said in a 2009 report that Israel's white phosphorus munitions had killed and injured civilians and damaged civilian structures, including a school, a market, a humanitarian aid warehouse, and a hospital. HRW claimed that Israel's use of the weapons in crowded neighborhoods "violated international humanitarian law (the laws of war), which requires taking all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm and prohibits indiscriminate attacks."

In response, Israel pledged to limit the use of white phosphorus and make greater efforts to protect civilians during conflicts. Still, the government said that it had used white phosphorus lawfully.

Claim of recent use: In October, Human Rights Watch accused Israeli forces of using white phosphorus in Gaza and Lebanon.

According to the HRW report, the rights group said it verified one video taken on October 10 in Lebanon and another video in Gaza on October 11 that it claimed shows "multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border."

Israel denied the claims by Human Rights Watch.

CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

The recent images of men detained and stripped down in Gaza were "deeply disturbing," US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Monday.

Asked by CNN about the photos, Miller reiterated that the US is seeking more information from the Israeli government.

The United States is seeking answers about the status of the individuals in the photos, the circumstances around the images, and "how ultimately they became public," he said.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), claimed to CNN last week that the men were members or suspected members of Hamas, "without clothes in order to make sure they’re not carrying explosives.”

However, in an interview with CNN on Friday, Hani Almadhoun, director of philanthropy for the US arm of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA USA) said he knew a dozen people pictured in circulating images, including his brother — all of whom were civilians. 

More background: The photos circulating on social media last Thursday showed a mass detention by the Israeli military of men who were made to strip to their underwear, kneel on the street, wear blindfolds, and pack into the cargo bed of a military vehicle.

The exact circumstances and dates of the detentions are unclear, but some of the detainees’ identities were confirmed by colleagues or family members.

CNN's Abeer Salman contributed to this report.

A Palestinian humanitarian group shared footage of a dramatic rescue carried out on Sunday of a husband and wife who were trapped under rubble in central Gaza. 

In the video shared on the Palestinian Red Crescent Society's (PRCS) official account on X, members of a group including the medical staff can be seen shining phone lights and hoisting the couple out from the rubble. 

According to the PRCS, its teams managed to rescue the husband and wife after their house in the Um Zaher area was bombed. Their 22-year-old son was killed by the bombing, the PRCS said. 

CNN has not been able to independently verify this claim. 

After being rescued, the couple were transported to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir-al-Balah to receive medical treatment, according to the the PRCS. 

Israel's operation in central Gaza has intensified in the days since the brief truce ended, resulting in an uptick in fatalities recorded in Al-Aqsa Hospital. 

Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the Gulf state of Qatar has come under fire by Israeli officials, American politicians and media outlets for sending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Gaza, which is governed by the Islamist militant group Hamas

But all that happened with Israel’s blessing.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued the cash flow to Hamas, despite concerns raised from within his own government, CNN was told in a series of interviews with key Israeli players conducted in collaboration with Israeli investigative journalism organization Shomrim.

Israeli sources responded by pointing out that successive governments had facilitated the transfer of money to Gaza for humanitarian reasons and that Netanyahu had acted decisively against Hamas after the October 7 attacks.

Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, a former senior Israeli Defense Ministry official, told CNN the plan was backed by the prime minister, but not by the Israeli intelligence community. There was also some belief that it would “weaken Palestinian sovereignty,” he said. There was also an illusion, he added, that “if you fed them (Hamas) with money, they would be tamed.”

Read the full story here.

A joint convoy of the United Nations and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) successfully reached Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City from the south on December 9, a report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday. 

The convoy delivered medical supplies and evacuated 19 critically injured patients towards the south, the OCHA added. 

However, “one of the ambulances and a UN truck carrying supplies were hit by gunfire as the convoy struggled to reach the hospital,” the OCHA report noted, without specifying the source of the gunfire.

According to OCHA, the convoy faced significant obstacles on the return journey south.

Israeli forces delayed the convoy at a checkpoint in Wadi Gaza in central Gaza, where vehicles, staff, and patients underwent extensive screenings.

One of the evacuated patients passed away during the journey south, OCHA said.

“A paramedic was detained for four hours. During this time, he was subjected to interrogation and reportedly endured physical and psychological abuse,” OCHA added.

This convoy marked the first aid convoy to the city of Gaza since the resurgence of hostilities on December 1. 

CNN has contacted the Israel Defense Forces for comment on what occurred at the checkpoint.

Sixty-one trucks loaded with humanitarian aid entered into Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Monday, according to an Egyptian official. The convoy included three trucks loaded with fuel and two carrying cooking gas.

This is the smallest number of aid trucks that has entered Gaza since December 5. 

Thirty-four injured Palestinians crossed from Gaza into Egypt to receive medical treatment on Monday, as witnessed by a CNN journalist at the Rafah crossing.

In addition, four buses carrying an unknown number of foreign nationals made the crossing from Gaza into Egypt.

Since the beginning of the conflict, approximately 600 injured Palestinians, predominantly children and women, have crossed into Egypt via the Rafah border, based on CNN's count.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Monday it struck a Hezbollah military site in southern Lebanon after a number of launches from the area.  

“In response to launches from Lebanon toward communities in the western Galilee earlier today, IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military site,” the IDF said in a statement. It added that “number of launches were also identified from Lebanon toward IDF posts in northern Israel. The IDF struck the sources of fire.” 

Hezbollah said earlier on Monday that it fired artillery shells at Pranit Barracks, saying its actions were in support of Gaza. Hezbollah said in a statement that the barracks suffered “a direct hit.” 

The IDF did not say whether there was any damage to its structures. 

Five reservists were killed on Sunday during a raid on what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said were “terror infrastructure sites” in the area of a school in southern Gaza.

“During the battle, an explosive device was detonated at the (IDF) forces and terrorists were identified in the area. The troops responded with live fire, directed aircraft and tanks, initiated contact, killed the terrorists, and struck the terror infrastructure in the area,” the IDF said in a statement. 

Shots were fired at IDF troops from the school, it added.

The IDF said it identified the five killed soldiers and notified their families.

Previous reporting from CNN’s Richard Allen Greene, Amir Tal, Tamar Michaelis, Tim Lister, Mick Krever, Alex Marquardt and others.