December 2, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Israel will continue ground operations in Gaza until all of its goals are achieved, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated in a press conference Saturday.

Netanyahu said Israel's goals are freeing hostages, eradicating Hamas and preventing a "regime of terror" in Gaza.

"We must achieve these goals; this is the only thing that is important to me," he said.

Netanyahu also spoke of the freed hostages, but declined to provide details on the conditions in which they were kept in Gaza. 

"As evidence has been gathered, you realize they experienced hell," he said.

Pressure from abroad: Earlier Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron said Israeli authorities need "to more precisely define their goal and the final outcome they're trying to achieve."

"What does the total destruction of Hamas mean? Does anyone think it is possible?" Macron said, adding that he thinks the eradication of Hamas would take 10 years of fighting.

The US has also pressured Israel to be more targeted in its renewed offensive in the enclave.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin emphasized in remarks Saturday that the protection of civilians in Gaza is crucial to Israel’s long-term success against Hamas. Speaking at a defense forum in California, Austin warned Israel to avoid driving civilians "into the arms of the enemy" and to "shun irresponsible rhetoric" while expanding access to humanitarian aid in Gaza.

“It would compound this tragedy if all that awaited Israelis and Palestinians at the end of this awful war was more insecurity, more rage and more despair,” Austin said.

Message for Hezbollah: Netanyahu also reiterated his warning against Hezbollah becoming more involved in the conflict.  

"In the north, we are operating all the time against Hezbollah, eliminating terror squads bringing terrorists further from the border," Netanyahu said. 

CNN's Haley Britzky contributed reporting to this post.

The Iron Dome defense system launched at least a dozen intercepts over central Tel Aviv on Saturday evening local time.

This is a second round of threats over the city since the truce between Israel and Hamas ended.

US President Joe Biden's administration will “pursue every effort” to secure the release of the hostages that Hamas is holding in Gaza, including American citizens who remain unaccounted for, a senior administration official said on the heels of negotiations in Doha, Qatar, breaking down.

The White House has said there is one American woman and seven men unaccounted for following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.

So far, four Americans have been released since the start of the war: 4-year-old Abigail Edan on November 26;  Liat Beinin on November 29; and Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie Raanan, on October 20.

As CNN previously reported, US and Israeli officials believe Hamas is refusing to release a number of women in their 20s and 30s taken at the Nova music festival — claiming that those women are considered soldiers, which Israel denies. 

The refusal not only violates the terms of the deal initially struck by Israel and Hamas, but is “totally unacceptable” given “credible allegations of sexual violence linked to Hamas and the October 7 atrocities,” the official said.

CNN has reported that Israeli police are using forensic evidence, video and witness testimony and interrogations of suspects to document cases of rape amid the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Women and girls caught in the rampage were brutalized sexually, as well as physically tortured and killed, witnesses to the aftermath say.

Police Superintendent Dudi Katz said officers have collected more than 1,000 statements and more than 60,000 video clips related to the attacks that include accounts from people who reported seeing women raped. He added that investigators do not have firsthand testimony, and it is not clear whether any rape victims survived.

At least 15,207 Palestinians have been killed in total as a result of Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7, according to a spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza.

At least 40,652 others have been injured in Gaza during the conflict, and 70% of the victims are children and women, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra said in a news conference Saturday.

At least 193 Palestinians have been killed since a truce between Hamas and Israel expired on Friday and Israel resumed its offensive in the enclave, the ministry said.

Some background: CNN cannot independently verify the numbers released by the ministry in Gaza, which is sealed off by Israel and mostly sealed by Egypt.

Israel has said it is targeting Hamas operatives in Gaza, repeatedly accusing Hamas of embedding in civilian infrastructure and using civilians as human shields — a defense echoed by officials from its close ally the United States.

But the US has also acknowledged the devastating civilian toll in Gaza and urged Israel to take more care to protect civilians in the next phase of its war. "Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed," US Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday.

Hospitals in peril: Twenty hospitals in the Gaza Strip are still out of service, despite some medical centers partially resuming operations after receiving fuel during the now-expired truce, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank said in a statement.

Al-Qudra said the bed occupancy in Gaza’s hospitals was at 171%, while the intensive care unit occupancy is 221%.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant blames Hamas for breaching the truce agreement with Israel, he said in a news conference Saturday. 

"Hamas explicitly violated the agreement we reached with the US, Egypt and Qatar," Gallant said. 

The truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed after Hamas promised to return the remaining 15 women and two children but did not follow through, Gallant said.  

Gallant also addressed Hamas' Wednesday claim that two young children — 4-year-old Ariel and 10-month-old Kfir Bibas — had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, stating only that they had been photographed alive earlier.

"This is their obligation because we agreed on it," he said. 

CNN earlier reported that the negotiations between Israel and Hamas broke down Saturday after Israel continued to insist on the release of a group of women and Hamas refused, according to a source familiar with the talks. As negotiations stood at an impasse over the women, Hamas pushed to begin negotiations on the release of men — possibly for a different set of terms, according to the source. Israel rejected that idea, insisting that it was imperative that all women be released first. 

Israeli and US officials believe Hamas continues to hold hostage a number of women between the approximate ages of 20 to 30 — many of them kidnapped from the Nova music festival — CNN previously reported. Hamas has been insisting that some of the remaining women they were holding hostage were considered part of the Israel Defense Forces, which Israel denies. 

IDF operations in Gaza won't stop, Gallant says: The defense minister added that the Israel Defense Forces operations in Gaza will continue.  

When asked about whether Israeli bombardment of Gaza could impact the remaining hostages, Gallant expressed that the "aggressive action" taken by the IDF is necessary. 

"We take everything into consideration," he said. 

Israel has recalled its team of negotiators from Qatar after reaching a “dead end” in talks, according to a statement released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

The negotiations broke down Saturday after Israel continued to insist on the release of a group of women and Hamas refused, a source familiar with the talks told CNN.

After the negotiations broke down, Hamas blamed Israel and the US for the resumption of war. The group said Israeli authorities had made a “predetermined decision to resume the criminal aggression.” Israel, meanwhile, says Hamas did not uphold its end of the truce agreement.

The resumed fighting has brought new horrors to Gaza, which Israel has pounded with strikes since the deal collapsed Friday.

Here are other headlines you should know:

This post has been updated with the latest number of aid trucks to reach Gaza on Saturday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the total destruction of Hamas would take 10 years of fighting, adding that Israel needs to further define its end goal with the war.

Speaking at a press conference at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, Macron said he would be traveling to Qatar to “work together on a new truce as soon as possible.”

Israel on Saturday recalled its team of negotiators from Qatar after reaching a “dead end” in talks, according to a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

Macron said there needs to be a permanent ceasefire.

“If this is the case, the war will last 10 years, and I don’t think that anyone is really able to define that goal. So it will need to be better defined,” he added.

Macron has reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself, but he said "the right for defense does not give you, in any way, the right to attack civilians."

The Israel Defense Forces has said it doesn’t target civilians.

While the US supports Israel’s “legitimate military objectives” in Gaza, the civilian suffering in the enclave has been too high, US Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday.

Harris, who met several key leaders in the region on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, said she spoke with them in depth Saturday about what expectations the US will have in regard to post-conflict planning. 

“As Israel pursues its military objectives in Gaza, we believe Israel must do more to protect innocent civilians,” she added.

The post-war vision for Gaza: Harris, who met several key leaders in the region on the sidelines in Dubai, said she spoke with them in depth Saturday about what expectations the US will have in regard to post-conflict planning. 

Harris and US President Joe Biden are already having discussions with their national security team and partners in the region about what a future path forward could look like for Gaza and the West Bank, Harris told reporters.

There are five principles currently guiding their approach: No forcible displacement of the Palestinian people, no reoccupation of Gaza, no siege or blockade, no reduction in territory, and no use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism, she said. 

“I've had a number of in-depth conversations with Arab leaders here in Dubai. Specifically, I proposed three areas of focus,” Harris said, pointing first to the reconstruction of critical infrastructure in Gaza, then strengthening the Palestinian Authority's security services, and lastly, revitalizing the PA’s governance structure. 

Remember: The Palestinian Authority is a government body with limited self-rule in the West Bank. It was established in the 1993 Oslo Accords, a peace pact between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization that saw the PLO give up armed resistance against Israel in return for promises of an independent Palestinian state.

Hamas controls Gaza and presents itself as an alternative to the PA, which has recognized Israel and engaged in multiple failed peace initiatives with it.

After talks on a fresh truce broke down Saturday, Hamas said Israeli authorities had made a “predetermined decision to resume the criminal aggression.”

A Hamas spokesperson said the group had offered to exchange prisoners and hand over the bodies of hostages it said died during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, but that Israel “refused to consider all these offers.”

“The occupation and the US administration are the ones responsible for the resumption of the war and the continuation of the massacres in Gaza,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

What Israel is saying: Israel recalled its negotiators from Qatar on Saturday because of what it described as a “dead end” in the talks.

The Israeli prime minister's office said in a statement that Hamas didn't "fulfill its part in the agreement, which included the return of all women and children held hostage, in accordance with a list sent to Hamas and approved by them."

Reported sticking point: The negotiations broke down Saturday after Israel continued to insist on the release of a group of women and Hamas refused, a source familiar with the talks told CNN.

Israeli and US officials believe Hamas continues to hold hostage a number of women between the approximate ages of 20 to 30 – many of them kidnapped from the Nova music festival – CNN previously reported. Hamas has been insisting that some of the remaining women they were holding hostage were considered part of the Israel Defense Forces, which Israel denies.