December 12, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Rifts between the United States and Israel spilled into public view Tuesday as President Joe Biden warned that Israel was losing international support for its campaign against Hamas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected American plans for post-war Gaza.

The divides, which until now had mostly been contained behind the scenes, reflected growing differences between the two staunch allies as the civilian death toll in Gaza mounts.

Speaking to Democratic donors in Washington, Biden voiced criticism of Israel’s hardline government and said Netanyahu needed to alter his approach.

“I think he has to change, and with this government, this government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move,” Biden said, calling Netanyahu’s government the “most conservative government in Israel’s history.”

He warned support for the country’s military campaign is waning amid heavy bombardment of Gaza and added that the Israeli government “doesn’t want a two-state solution.”

Speaking ahead of Biden’s comments at the fundraiser, Netanyahu admitted Tuesday that he and the US president disagree on what should happen to Gaza after the war. In a statement, the Israeli leader said: “Yes, there is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas’ and I hope that we will reach agreement here as well.”

The pair of remarks amounted to some of the most candid to date when it comes to the persistent differences between Israel and the United States, its top international ally.

Before the war broke out following Hamas’ terror attacks on October 7, Biden had been open in his criticism of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, which includes far-right parties. But he has mostly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Netanyahu in public since the conflict began, despite mounting criticism of the Israeli campaign.

Netanyahu has been asked repeatedly for his vision for a post-war Gaza in interviews with international media since October 7, telling CNN’s Dana Bash in an interview last month that he did see a role for “some kind of civilian Palestinian authority,” albeit one that had been “reconstructed.”

But in his statement Tuesday before Biden’s remarks at the Democratic fundraiser, Netanyahu said: “I would like to clarify my position: I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo.”

Read more about the Biden-Netanyahu comments.

Clarification: This post has been updated to include Biden's full remarks regarding Netanyahu and the Israeli government.

Israeli authorities say that 197 humanitarian aid trucks were screened and transferred to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah Crossing on Tuesday.

Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that 117 trucks were inspected at Nitzana crossing and 80 at Kerem Shalom crossing. 

The Israeli government has forbidden aid to be transferred directly from Israeli crossing points into Gaza.

Earlier Tuesday, CNN reported that the United States is pressuring Israel to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing to allow humanitarian aid trucks to go directly into Gaza on an emergency basis, according to US officials.

A spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment on the US move.

Israel has so far resisted the idea. It cut off all commercial and humanitarian aid traffic from Israel into Gaza since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack on October 7 and has vowed to sever all ties with Gaza.

Col. Moshe Tetro, a top official at Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which coordinates the flow of aid into the strip, told CNN on Monday that allowing aid directly into Gaza from Kerem Shalom “is not on the table at the current time” and that it would require a “political” decision to change that.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond contributed reporting to this post.

The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza says the Israeli military has detained the director of Kamal Adwan hospital and taken him to an unknown destination outside the hospital.

CNN spoke to the hospital Director, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot, on Monday, but was unable to reach him again Tuesday.

The hospital is in northern Gaza and close to areas where there has been intense fighting. 

It claimed the Israelis had released five doctors, as well as women health personnel, but taken more than 70 health care staff out of the hospital to an unknown destination. The ministry also said Israeli forces have asked the remaining staff to gather all patients and staff in one building and evacuate the other buildings.

It said that in addition to medical personnel, there are 65 wounded and 12 sick children in childcare without electricity, water or food.

CNN is asking the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the claim that Dr Al-Kahlot and others were detained.

The United States is pressuring Israel to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing to allow humanitarian aid trucks to go directly into Gaza on an emergency basis, US officials told CNN.

The Israeli government on Tuesday allowed aid trucks to be inspected at Kerem Shalom for the first time since Hamas’s attack on October 7, but those trucks must still drive back through Egypt before entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing. While the move doubles Israel’s capacity to inspect aid trucks, it does not resolve the bottleneck that is emerging at the Rafah crossing. 

US President Joe Biden raised the issue directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their last call on Thursday, the US officials said. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also urged his Israeli counterparts to open up the Israel-Gaza crossing before he arrives in Israel for meetings on Thursday, the officials said.

A spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment on the US move.

Israel has so far resisted the idea. It cut off all commercial and humanitarian aid traffic from Israel into Gaza since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack on October 7 and has vowed to sever all ties with Gaza.

Col. Moshe Tetro, a top official at Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which coordinates the flow of aid into the Strip, told CNN on Monday that allowing aid directly into Gaza from Kerem Shalom “is not on the table at the current time” and that it would require a “political” decision to change that.

“We will see whether it is an option but at the current time we are talking only about doing the security clearance and inspection in Kerem Shalom Crossing,” Tetro added.

The Israeli government has told the US that it can increase the capacity for enough aid to cross into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, but a senior US official said the US has “definitively reached the conclusion that that is not the case.”

The US is making the case that the crossing should be opened to address an “emergency situation” for as long as there is a humanitarian need, the US officials said. 

Israel’s offensive in southern Gaza displaces hundreds of thousands more civilians and is driving an increasingly desperate humanitarian situation. Humanitarian aid officials say shelters in the south of the Strip, where civilians are being directed to flee, are overcrowded and under-resourced. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the bodies of two Israeli hostages have been recovered in Gaza.

It named them as Eden Zecharya and Ziv Dado.

“During an operation in Gaza, the bodies of the hostages Eden Zecharya and [Sergeant Major] Ziv Dado were recovered by IDF Special Forces and brought back to Israel,” the IDF said in a statement Tuesday.

The Israeli military continued: “After an identification procedure carried out by medical officials and military rabbis together with the Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Israel Police, today (Tuesday) IDF and Israel Police representatives informed the families of Eden Zecharya and (SGM) Ziv Dado, who were taken hostage by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7th, that their bodies had been recovered and returned to Israel.”

Zecharya was taken hostage from the Re'im music festival and Dado was taken hostage and fell while serving in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, and until today was recognized as a fallen soldier in captivity, the IDF said.

It added that during the operations that enabled the location of the bodies, two IDF soldiers on reserve duty were killed and others injured.

The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum headquarters said Zecharya was 28 and filled with joy for life.

She had traveled to Re'im with her boyfriend, 23-year-old Ofek Kimchi. She spoke to her father on the phone and said they were under fire.

Kimchi was killed in the attack. Zecharya was kidnapped with injuries to the upper half of her body.

In her last phone call, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, she managed to ask her father to look after her two hunting dogs.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office has revised the number of hostages in Gaza to 135, in light of the announcement that the bodies of two hostages have been recovered from Gaza.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday will meet with families of American hostages abducted by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel, a White House official told CNN.

The meeting will take place at the White House. A number of families of hostages are in Washington, DC this week to make a personal case for the Biden administration and Israeli government to work harder and more creatively for their loved ones’ release.

There are still seven American men and one woman missing since the war began, according to the White House. Four Americans – a 4-year-old girl and three women – have been released so far. Biden previously met over Zoom with several relatives.

Several family members had asked to attend a Hanukkah reception held at the White House on Monday, but did not receive an invite. But Biden referenced the hostages while speaking at the reception, vowing his administration was “not going to stop ‘till we get every one of them home.”

The Israeli Navy said that its missile ships are operating in the Red Sea, amid threats to merchant shipping there from Iranian-backed Houthi forces.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Tuesday that the operational processing of four new Sa'ar 6-class corvettes had been completed, and that “for the first time, a Sa'ar 6 missile ship sailed to the Red Sea.”

It said that “the missile ships of the Israeli Navy are continuing to operate in the Red Sea, according to the situational assessment and as part of enhanced defensive efforts. This week, the INS Magen, a Sa'ar 6-class corvette, anchored in the port of Eilat for the first time, joining the Israeli Navy's operational activities.”

Earlier Tuesday, the Houthis warned that they would “continue to prevent all ships of all nationalities heading to Israeli ports from navigating in the Arab and Red Seas” until food and medicine is provided to the Gaza Strip. They also claimed responsibility for an attack on the Norwegian-registered oil and chemical tanker STRINDA.

Israel has said it is prepared to act against efforts by Houthi rebels in Yemen to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea if the international community fails to do so, Israeli National Security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said Saturday.

“Israel is giving the world some time to organize in order to prevent this but if there isn’t to be a global arrangement, because it is a global issue, we will act in order to remove this naval siege,” Hanegbi said.

Some background: The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are a Shia political and military organization that have been fighting a civil war against a Saudi Arabia-backed coalition since 2014.

There has been an uptick in their maritime activities since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 and the group has said any ship heading to Israel was a “legitimate target.”

US warships have already been protecting shipping in the region. Last week, a US warship shot down multiple unmanned aerial vehicles that came from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in the southern Red Sea, according to US military officials. One of the incidents came during a series of attacks on three commercial vessels.

CNN's Heather Chen contributed reporting to this post.

The Israeli military is now inside Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, according to the spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the enclave, Ashraf Al-Qidra.

Al-Qidra alleged that the hospital director, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot, and all medical staff, including female staff, were being held in the emergency department and being subjected to interrogation.

Asked whether its troops were inside the hospital and interrogating medical staff, the Israel Defense Forces told CNN:

Dr. Al-Kahlot told CNN on Monday that Kamal Adwan was surrounded by Israeli forces.

In one recent tank shelling, Dr. Al-Kahlot said the maternity ward was hit, killing two women and leaving two more so badly wounded their legs required amputation.

"The hospital has no water, no food, no fuel. I make an appeal to lift this siege and bring in water and fuel," he said.

On Friday, the IDF said clashes near Kamal Adwan hospital were "in response to Hamas' barbaric attacks.”

The Israeli military says it only carries out operations in and around hospitals where they are being used by Hamas and other armed groups.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Tuesday that 13 soldiers have been killed by friendly fire in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation in the enclave last month. 

According to the IDF tally, of the 104 IDF troops killed in Gaza since October 27, 20 were killed in what the IDF said were accidents: 13 in friendly fire, six in incidents related to weaponry, machinery or trampling, and one because of “firing irregularities.” 

This means that one in eight soldiers killed in Gaza since October 27 have been killed by friendly fire.