December 25, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas has moved here.

A close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with Biden administration officials on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the plans, after the Israeli leader vowed a “long fight” ahead in the war in Gaza.

Ron Dermer, considered one of Netanyahu’s closest allies, is expected to meet with officials from the White House and the State Department to discuss the next phase of the war in Gaza, the source told CNN.

Dermer is a member of Israel’s war cabinet who previously served as ambassador to the United States.

He is expected to meet with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and members of Congress, according to Axios, which first reported the meetings.

The National Security Council told CNN they do not have any meetings to announce “at this time.”

The expected meetings come as the White House has looked for Israel to move away from the high intensity war it has waged for nearly three months in Gaza that has resulted in approximately 20,000 people killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Healthy in Ramallah, which draws its data from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Last week, the White House told reporters that Israel has assured the United States that it would transition to operations of lower intensity, though the administration would not put a specific timeline on the transition. US officials previously told CNN they expect Israel could shift its tactics to more localized operations by January.

Netanyahu vowed Monday that the war in Gaza was still a “long fight and it is not close to ending.” After his second visit to Gaza since the war began on October 7, Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel would “deepen the fighting.”

Iran and several of its armed proxies on Monday vowed to retaliate against Israel following the alleged assassination of a senior Islamic Revolution Guards Corps commander in Syria. 

IRGC commander Seyyed Razi Mousavi was killed Monday in an Israeli airstrike that targeted him a Damascus suburb, Iran’s state-run IRNA reported, citing a statement from IRGC public relations.

The IDF declined to comment on the report when asked by CNN.

The IRGC vowed to avenge his killing, saying “the Israeli regime would undoubtedly pay the price for this crime.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also warned Israel of repercussions, saying: “Tel Aviv should expect a tough countdown.”

In a separate statement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Iran “reserves the right to take necessary measures and respond to his killing at the right time and in the right place.”

Israel has for years targeted what it calls Iran-linked positions in Syria, where the IRGC, an elite wing of the Iranian military, has a significant presence.

According to IRNA, Mousavi was serving as a military adviser in Syria. His alleged assassination comes at a time of heightened regional tensions over Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, which has led to fears of a wider conflict.

Iran’s warnings of retaliation were echoed Monday by Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Iran-linked al-Nujaba Resistance Movement in Iraq.

In a statement Monday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad condemned Mousavi’s killing and said he “had a fundamental and pivotal role in supporting the resistance forces in the region, and supporting the Palestinian people, their resistance and their cause.”

Egypt on Sunday proposed a three-phase plan to end the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, according to various media reports, but it is unclear how the warring parties will receive it.

Israel’s war cabinet convened Monday, and among other topics, they were expected to discuss ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages, an Israeli official told CNN. The source would not acknowledge the reported Egyptian proposal.

Egypt’s three-phase deal would “secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza,” CNN Political and Foreign Policy Analyst Barak Ravid reports, citing two Israeli sources. CNN has not independently obtained a copy of the plan.

Last week, Hamas said Palestinian factions would not agree to any talks about prisoner swaps until after Israel ends its military operation in Gaza.

The third phase also includes the end of the war, with Israel pulling out from Gaza and “the establishment of a technocratic government in Gaza that will not be affiliated with Hamas and will get the support of the U.S., Egypt and Qatar,” Ravid reports.

The three-phase plan is also outlined by Israeli and other international news outlets, citing various officials and diplomatic sources.

CNN has reached out to Egyptian officials for comment on the reported plan.

Tamar Michaelis contributed to this report.

As deadly fighting between Israel and Hamas continues, so too does a dire humanitarian crisis in the area.

At least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel and, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza after Hamas launched unprecedented attacks on Israel October 7. Subsequent airstrikes have overwhelmed local hospitals and internally displaced an estimated one million people in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas on Earth.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is calling for the protection of aid workers, civilians, and critical infrastructure. Calling the situation “horrific,” Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is urging restraint after medical facilities have been destroyed in the fighting.

Impact Your World has gathered a list of vetted organizations that are on the ground responding. You can support their work by clicking HERE.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Gaza for the second time since he declared war on Hamas following the group’s attack in Israel on October 7.

“It will be a long fight and it is not close to ending,” Netanyahu said in a statement published by his Likud party. 

Here’s what you need to know:

The Israeli authorities say 218 humanitarian aid trucks inspected at its crossing points crossed into Gaza on Monday.

Here’s the breakdown, according to the government’s office for Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT):

Here’s a look at the crossings:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was interrupted by shouts from family members of hostages as he spoke during a special session of the parliament Monday.

The family members of the hostages captive in Gaza held posters and signs with the photos and names of their loved ones.

Netanyahu, who had just returned from a trip to Gaza, said a brigade commander on the ground told the prime minister that troops needed more time on location to complete their operation.

At this time, hostage families began vocalizing their dissent, saying “there is no time.” As he resumed his comments, families can be heard chanting loudly, “Now! Now! Now!”

Citing previous interactions with families of fallen IDF soldiers, Netanyahu said he was told, “Our sons did not die in vain. We must not stop the war until we secure the complete victory over those who wish us dead.”

At this point, the family members in the gallery of the Knesset reiterated their chants, saying, “Everyone - now! Everyone – now!”

Signs the family members held up said, “we trust you to bring them home,” “80 days, each minute is like hell.” A sign questioned, “what if this were your daughter,” and rotated between “daughter,” “father,” and “brother.”

The prime minister said, “We spare no effort.”

“We will shake every tree and turn every stone to bring back all the kidnapped. Each one of them is precious. Since the beginning of the war, I have met with the families of the abductees, and I hear your personal stories. What is said here unites the people and unites us in a holy mission,” he added.

Key context: There are 129 hostages still in Gaza, according to the prime minister’s office. Of those, 22 are known to be dead, and their bodies remain in Gaza along with the 107 living hostages.

At least 250 people were killed and 500 others were injured over the past 24 hours in the areas of Bureij, Nuseirat and Al-Maghazi in central Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said Monday, adding the death toll across the enclave since October 7 is now 20,674.

CNN previously reported at least 70 people were killed in an attack on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp alone.

CNN reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment about the ministry’s latest statement. It said, “In response to Hamas’ barbaric attacks, the IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities.”

Israel’s war in Gaza is far from ending, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, after he returned from a trip to the besieged enclave.

It was his second trip to the Gaza Strip since October 7.

“It will be a long fight and it is not close to ending. We need patience, cohesion, unity and adherence to the mission,” Netanyahu said in a statement published by his Likud party. 

Netanyahu told his fellow party members that he just returned from a trip to Gaza and met with Israeli soldiers there. They told him to continue the military operation.

“We don’t stop, we keep fighting and we deepen the fighting in the coming day,” he said in the statement.

Pope Francis used his Christmas Day message to urge for a ceasefire and issue a plea for the end of the war between Israel and Hamas.

“Let us pray for peace in Palestine and Israel,” said the 87-year-old pontiff, describing war as “an aimless voyage, a defeat without victors, an inexcusable folly” in his Christmas Day “Urbi et Orbi” message. 

Urbi et Orbi – meaning “to the city [of Rome] and to the world” in Latin – is a papal address and blessing given during important occasions. 

“I plead for an end to the military operations with their appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims, and call for a solution to the desperate humanitarian situation by an opening to the provision of humanitarian aid,” he said from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican city. 

Pope Francis repeated his call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and while reiterating his “urgent appeal” for hostages to be freed.

Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sent a letter to the Pope on Sunday, requesting his help for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Pope Francis has repeatedly called for the release of the captives and met with some of their relatives in November.

During his remarks, the Pope described the children “devastated” by war as the “little Jesuses” of today, lamenting the number of “innocents” being “slaughtered in the world” including those in “their mothers’ wombs” and others who are “in odysseys undertaken in desperation and in search of hope.”   

The Pope also appealed for peace in conflicts across the world, including in Ukraine, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. 

He reiterated his criticism on arms trade, which he labeled “the interests and the profits that move the puppet-strings of war” and lamented that “arms production, sales and trade are on the rise.” 

World Health Organization officials witnessed “acute hunger” and “rising desperation” during a visit to a heavily damaged hospital in the north of the besieged enclave, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday.

A WHO team delivered supplies to the flashpoint Al-Shifa hospital on Saturday with humanitarian partners including the United Nations and World Central Kitchen.

“Al-Shifa is a microcosm of the nightmare playing out across Gaza, where drastic shortages of medicines, food, power, water and – above all – safety imperil the population,” Tedros said on X, formerly Twitter.

The joint mission Saturday delivered 19,200 liters of generator fuel to Al-Shifa, where hospital authorities say 50,000 displaced people are taking refuge, according to Tedros. He said his colleagues saw Al Shifa’s surgery wing “overflowing with Gazans” who were seeking safety and shelter.

Tedros emphasized that the risk of famine is high across Gaza, with people desperately searching for food.

“I can only imagine the torment that would drive people to such lengths,” Tedros said, of people who have resorted to grabbing supplies from delivery trucks during the joint mission.

The mission also visited several maternity hospitals, where officials witnessed a lack of staffing, fuel, food, water, and pain medicine. At Al-Shaba maternity hospital, there are only three doctors to help deliver about 20 babies a day, including performing C-sections, Tedros said.

Some context: Israel has focused a huge amount of attention on Gaza’s hospitals since it began its offensive in Gaza in October, claiming Hamas uses medical facilities for military purposes. CNN cannot verify the claim. A key argument from Israel’s political and military leaders has been that any such misuse of Gaza’s hospitals by Hamas provides justification under international humanitarian law for Israeli military attacks.

Global shipping giant Maersk will restart operations in the Red Sea after suspending activity there following attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on commercial vessels.

The Danish company announced Sunday that it would resume shipments in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden following the establishment of a new US-led security operation to safeguard the area.

Operation Prosperity Guardian will once again allow shipping vessels to pass through the area, Maersk said in a statement, in what it called “most welcome news for the entire industry and indeed the functionality of global trade.”

The multinational security operation includes the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.

Some of the world’s biggest companies, including oil giant BP, recently said they were suspending their operations in the Red Sea, also avoiding the crucial Suez Canal, following attacks on commercial ships by the Houthis, which the militants said were revenge against Israel for its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

Read the full story.

An Israeli attack killed at least 70 people Sunday at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, the strip’s Hamas-controlled health ministry said.

“What is happening at the Maghazi camp is a massacre that is being committed on a crowded residential square,” ministry spokesperson Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra said in a Telegram post.

The Israeli military said it was reviewing reports of an incident at the camp and “taking feasible steps to minimize harm to civilians.”

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began in early October, according to the health ministry.

Catch up on the latest developments:

At least 70 people were killed in an Israeli attack at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday, according to the strip’s Hamas-run health ministry. 

A video posted by the Palestinian Red Crescent shows several wounded people from the camp being taken into ambulances. 

“What is happening at the Maghazi camp is a massacre that is being committed on a crowded residential square,” spokesperson Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra said in a Telegram post on the ministry’s account.

In response to a CNN inquiry, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had received reports of an incident at the camp, which it was reviewing.

“Despite the challenges posed by Hamas terrorists operating within civilian areas in Gaza, the IDF is committed to international law, including taking feasible steps to minimize harm to civilians,” the IDF said. 

Some context: The IDF says that Hamas hides terrorist infrastructure in and around civilian institutions in Gaza, including refugee camps and hospitals, and has repeatedly denied targeting civilians. Despite growing international criticism from some of Israel’s staunchest allies over the growing civilian toll in Gaza, Israel has not changed course in its military pursuit of Hamas.

Pope Francis said the message of Jesus’ birth is being rejected by war as he began Christmas celebrations in the Vatican on Sunday. 

“Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world,” the 87-year-old pontiff said during a Christmas Eve midnight mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.    

With heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Christmas celebrations have been effectively canceled in Bethlehem, located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 

The pope, who has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, tonight stressed that the birth of Jesus offered a stark contrast to the “power of the world” and the desire for “might, fame, and glory.”  

Francis pointed out that when Jesus is born “none of the powerful take notice of him” and urged believers not to see God in “pagan terms” as “a powerful potentate in the sky” who is linked to “power, worldly success and the idolatry of consumerism.” 

He said that God is instead marked by “closeness, compassion and tenderness” and does not “burst on the scene with limitless power” but instead “descends to the narrow confines of our lives.”  

The pope’s celebration of midnight mass was attended by an estimated 6,500 inside St. Peter’s Basilica along with cardinals, bishops, and priests.  

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday disclosed new information about an underground Hamas tunnel network which the military said it recently demolished following the recovery of the bodies of five Israeli hostages. 

Citing recent operations over the past few weeks in “the area of the Jabalya camp,” the IDF said in a statement it “exposed a strategic tunnel network that served as Hamas’ northern headquarters in Gaza. The underground headquarters, which included two levels … with many routes, was used for directing combat and the movement of terrorists.”

“The network was connected to a shaft leading to the residence of the Commander of Hamas’ Northern Brigade,” Ahmed Ghandour, it said.

The IDF previously identified Ghandour as “a leading figure in the planning and execution of the October 7th massacre.” In late November, the IDF said Ghandour and four other “senior commanders” were killed in IDF operations.

In their Sunday statement, the IDF said the underground network, used by Hamas, “also passed beneath a school and a hospital.” CNN has not independently verified details of the tunnel network’s location.

After the bodies of the hostages — Ziv Dado, Eden Zecharya, Ron Sherman, Nik Beizer and Elia Toledano — were recovered, the IDF said it dismantled the “subterranean headquarters.”

“The demolition of the headquarters in Jabalya is part of the effort to deal with Hamas’ tunnel infrastructure and to strike at its senior commanders and its strategic capabilities,” the IDF statement said. “This effort is continuing at all times and is now being carried out in Khan Yunis and the southern Gaza Strip.”

Church bells echo through the labyrinth-like streets of Bethlehem. With Christmas approaching, the city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank should be teeming with visitors. But this year, it is almost deserted.

Local leaders made the decision last month to scale back festivities in solidarity with the Palestinian population, as heavy fighting raged between Israel and Hamas in the devastated Gaza Strip.

More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s air and ground offensive, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza and nearly 85% of the strip’s total population has been displaced.

The war was sparked by Hamas’ terror attack on October 7 on southern Israel in which at least 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 others taken hostage.

Many here have ties to Gaza through loved ones and friends, and a sense of misery has fallen upon the city revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

Decorations that once adorned neighborhoods have been removed. The parades and religious celebrations have been canceled. In the city center, the traditional enormous Christmas tree of Manger Square is conspicuously absent.

Traveling into Bethlehem, about 8 kilometers south of Jerusalem, isn’t ordinarily an easy journey. The Israeli-built West Bank barrier restricts movement, as do the various checkpoints leading in and out of the city. It’s only got worse since Hamas’ brazen attack.

Since October 7, Israel has restricted movement in Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns in the West Bank, with military checkpoints allowing access in and out, impacting Palestinians trying to get to work.

The occupied territory has also experienced a surge in violence, with at least 300 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

He and his family live in Al Shawawra, a Palestinian village near Bethlehem, and visit each Christmas “because our relationship with our Christian brothers is a strong relationship.”

He explains: “We join them in their celebrations, and they also join us in our celebrations. But this year’s holiday season is very bad.”

Read more.

Israeli forces are “intensifying” operations inside Gaza and will continue to fight until victory over Hamas is achieved, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement released Sunday.  

“Citizens of Israel, we are intensifying the war in the Gaza Strip. We will continue to fight until absolute victory over Hamas. This is the only way to return our hostages, eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said. 
“This will take time, but we are united — the soldiers, the people and the government. We are united and determined to fight until the end.”

Netanyahu also talked about the Israeli soldiers who were killed during military operations in Gaza. 

“The war has a price, a very heavy price in the lives of our heroic soldiers, and we will do everything to safeguard the lives of our soldiers. However, there is one thing we will not do: We will not stop until we achieve victory,” he said

Netanyahu’s statement comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday during a news conference that the conflict “needs to move to a lower-intensity phase.”

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels are stepping up their strikes on ships in the Red Sea, which they say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.

Now, newly declassified United States intelligence suggests that Iran has been “deeply involved” in the operations, US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told CNN.

The Houthi rebels have launched over 100 attacks against about a dozen commercial and merchant ships transiting the Red Sea over the past four weeks, CNN previously reported.

The attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes, which could potentially cause a shock to the global economy.

The Houthis are believed to have been armed and trained by Iran, and there are fears that their attacks could escalate Israel’s war against Hamas into a wider regional conflict.

Here’s what we know about the Houthis.