December 13, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

The US government on Wednesday imposed sanctions on eight Hamas officials in its latest punitive measure following the October 7 attack on Israel.

The new round of US Treasury Department sanctions target key officials. This includes:

Wednesday's sanctions were imposed in coordination with the United Kingdom. They are the fourth round of sanctions imposed by the US since October 7.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron emphasized that this latest batch of sanctions "will continue to cut off their access to funding and isolate them further."

As part of this effort to clamp down on individuals who have “financed Hamas,” Algerian national, Aiman Ahmad Al Duwaik, who the UK says “helped run the organisation’s overseas investment portfolio” was also included in the list.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an Islamist militant group was also targeted in the list through the inclusion of Akram al-Ajouri who is the group's Syria-based Deputy Secretary General and the leader of its military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades.

Hamas has been unresponsive to overtures made in recent days to try to restart hostage negotiations, a source familiar with the efforts told CNN, as the US and other mediators try to resurrect talks that would see more hostages who were abducted on October 7 be released from captivity.

Qatar — which continues to play the role of interlocutor — has relayed to Hamas new ideas to try to get more hostages out of Gaza, including a potential deal that would include the release of not just the remaining women hostages, but men as well, according to one source familiar with the efforts and a senior US official.

But Hamas has not been responsive to the outreach, the source familiar said.

Qatar speaks with Hamas political officials in Gaza who then relay messages to the group’s leadership inside the strip who are actively trying to avoid detection by Israel. US officials had said getting answers from Hamas was an incredibly cumbersome process during the first round of negotiations that led to a series of hostages being released. It may now be even harder for Hamas leaders to engage in talks now given the Israeli focus on hunting them down. 

At the same time, Israel, which resumed its military operation against Hamas after a seven-day truce, believes that its offensive targeting southern Gaza – and particularly Khan Younis – should exert additional pressure on Hamas that could prove to be helpful in the release of more hostages, sources said. Some US officials agree the military pressure may have the effect of eventually driving Hamas back to the negotiating table.

It “may be a moment for Hamas to reconsider coming back to the table in a real way,” the senior US official said.

In a sign of the growing differences between two staunch allies, US President Joe Biden has warned that Israel is starting to lose global support for its war on Hamas due to the "indiscriminate bombing that takes place," in his sharpest words yet for Israel.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected American plans for post-war Gaza.

Elsewhere, at least nine Israeli soldiers have died in a single incident in northern Gaza, marking one of the deadliest for Israeli forces since the conflict began.

Below are the other updates you need to know:

Israel continued its operation on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin for the second consecutive day, and clashes between residents of the city and Israeli forces were reported in the eastern part of the city, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA. 

As of Wednesday, eight people have been killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

Three residential houses were struck by Israeli forces in the eastern part of Jenin, 12 people were detained and released, and several raids on houses were conducted by Israeli forces, WAFA added. 

Schools across the city were closed Wednesday because of the incursion, WAFA reported.

The Israel Defense Forces says it is continuing its operation in Jenin, which has included searching “hundreds of compounds," questioning "hundreds of suspects," and destroying "six explosives labs, underground tunnel shafts, four observation command centers as well as explosive devices." The IDF also said it has confiscated ammunition, weapons, military equipment and weapons parts.

Meanwhile, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said there is a “deteriorating situation” in the Jenin refugee camp, and it is receiving scores of emergency calls while access by medical teams is hindered. It said there were shortages of baby formula and bread for people whose homes are occupied by Israeli soldiers and who are unable to leave.

Jenin has seen several large-scale incursions by the Israeli military this year.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society previously said Tuesday that the Israeli military made more than 100 arrests in an operation in Jenin and adjacent refugee camps.

Four Palestinians were killed in an apparent Israeli drone strike on Jenin, WAFA said Tuesday.

The IDF said Tuesday it is carrying out "counterterrorism activities" in Jenin and has detained dozens of suspects.

More background: The Israeli-Gaza war has increasingly spilled over into the West Bank, with settler attacks and clashes leaving hundreds of Palestinians dead.

The number of Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank between October 7 and December 9 has risen to 275, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah said on Sunday. 

Salwa Tibi recalls how she covered several miles on foot in southern Gaza, in a desperate search for blankets and sheets that might help keep her four children and other young relatives warm at night.

The aid worker, 53, told CNN she and her husband were “full of fear” as they ventured out to buy supplies for the approaching winter season in Rafah, risking exposure to potential Israeli airstrikes.

She is staying in a rented house with at least 20 relatives including eight children and babies – the youngest of whom is three months old.

As winds, heavy rains and cooler temperatures descend on Gaza from November to February, aid workers and civilians trying to survive persistent bombardment told CNN they face harsh living conditions, insufficient access to warm clothing, and outbreaks of disease in overcrowded makeshift shelters.

Food, fuel and water are ever scarcer, and the price of what little remains is spiraling.

Read more about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza here.

The families of all of the eight unaccounted for Americans believed to have been abducted by Hamas on October 7 are expected to join a meeting with President Joe Biden on Wednesday, according to a senior administration official, with some joining in-person at the White House and others virtually.

In an interview with CNN, White House official John Kirby said Biden will tell the families the administration is “not going to lose sight of their loved ones.” 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer will also be joining the meeting, the senior official said. Wednesday marks Biden’s first in-person meeting with the families of American hostages — he previously met with them over Zoom in October.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan is traveling to Israel this week, and plans to discuss the hostages issues during his trip.

Eight Americans — one woman and seven men — are still unaccounted for following Hamas’ attack on Israel, per the White House. Four Americans have been released so far, following intensive negotiations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for the protection of humanitarian and healthcare workers in Gaza after saying medical workers were detained and beaten at a checkpoint, and one was stripped, during a “high-risk” mission to a hospital in Gaza City on Saturday. 

A WHO team in conjunction with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) carried out the mission to “deliver medical supplies, assess the situation in the hospital, and transfer critically-injured patients to a hospital in the south,” WHO said in a statement Tuesday.

As the convoy traveled north on Saturday, it underwent inspection at the Wadi Gaza checkpoint, during which ambulance crew members were asked to leave their vehicles for identification, according to the statement. 

WHO said two PRCS staff were detained for over an hour after exiting their vehicles. According to WHO staff, one of the PRCS staff was made to kneel at gunpoint before being taken out of sight “where he was reportedly harassed, beaten, stripped and searched,” according to the statement. 

Checkpoints at Wadi Gaza are maintained by the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF acknowledged a CNN question about the incident but did not respond.

WHO said that after its convoy passed the checkpoint, it came under fire.

It did not say who fired at them.

After successfully carrying out its mission at the Al-Ahli Hospital, the convoy was stopped at the same Wadi Gaza checkpoint upon its return. One of the same two PRCS staff was taken in to be interrogated once again, according to WHO. 

“The mission made numerous attempts to coordinate his release, but eventually—after more than two and a half hours—had to make the difficult decision to leave the highly dangerous area and proceed, for the safety and well-being of the patients and humanitarian workers,” the statement said. 

WHO said its staff managed to meet with the PRCS worker on Sunday after he was released. 

The man claimed that he was “harassed, beaten, threatened, stripped of his clothes and blindfolded” during the detention. 

“His hands were tied behind his back and he was treated in a degrading and humiliating manner. Once released, he was left to walk towards the south with his hands still tied behind his back, and without clothes or shoes,” WHO alleged. 

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says she is in favor of sanctioning “extremist settlers” involved in attacks in the West Bank.

Von der Leyen made the comments during a plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

Some background: UN data has shown a sharp increase in attacks by settlers against Palestinians since the October 7 attacks, though European and US diplomats working in the region have been expressing concern for years about such violence, and the sense that it frequently goes unpunished by Israel.

Approximately 500,000 Israeli Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, according to Peace Now, an Israeli group that advocates for peace and monitors settlements. Many of these settlements are heavily guarded, fenced-off areas that are completely off limits to Palestinians.

Most of the world considers these settlements illegal under international law and Israel has been criticized for allowing their expansion – and, in some cases, supporting them with tax breaks and state-funded security. 

Israel views the West Bank as “disputed territory,” and contends its settlement policy is legal.

The Biden administration currently has no plans to place conditions on the military aid it is providing to Israel, officials told CNN, despite growing calls by Democratic lawmakers and human rights organizations for the US to stop providing weapons unless Israel does more to protect civilians in Gaza.

Speaking to Democratic donors in Washington this week, President Joe Biden acknowledged that he has had tough conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s military campaign, how Israel is losing international support, and the need for a two-state solution led by the Palestinian Authority.

Echoing that sentiment, US officials told CNN that the US has no plans to shift its position and draw any red lines around the transfer of weapons and munitions to Israel.

They noted that the administration already expects allies and partners to use US-made equipment in accordance with international humanitarian law and pointed to Israel’s practice of embedding military lawyers with Israel Defense Force units who determine beforehand whether a strike will be proportional and legal.

Read the full story here.