December 3, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

The US is stepping up pressure on Israel to do more to protect civilians following the resumption of combat operations in Gaza.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed on Saturday that US support for Israel is “not negotiable” in remarks at a forum in California — but also emphasized that the protection of civilians in Gaza is crucial to Israel’s long-term success against Hamas.

“I learned a thing or two about urban warfare from my time fighting in Iraq and leading the campaign to defeat ISIS … the lesson is not that you can win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. The lesson is that you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians,” Austin said.

“You see, in this kind of a fight, the center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.

"I have repeatedly made clear to Israel’s leaders that protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is both a moral responsibility and a strategic imperative," he added.

Israel has been bombarding Gaza after a fragile truce that saw dozens of hostages freed collapsed on Friday.

Austin's comments echo remarks from US Vice President Kamala Harris, who said earlier on Saturday that "too many innocent Palestinians have been killed."

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

Mounting toll: Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 15,207 people and injured at least 40,652 others, Dr Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza, said on Saturday. At least 70% of those killed are women and children.

Israel's blockade on the Palestinian enclave has caused rampant food, fuel and drug shortages, crushing the medical system and leaving 2.2 million Gazans at risk of dehydration and starvation.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) estimated some 1.8 million people have been displaced in Gaza since October 7. Human rights organizations have said Israel’s attacks on civilians amount to a war crime, as does their forcible evacuation.

CNN's Sam Fossum contributed reporting.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says fighter jets and helicopters struck targets in the Gaza Strip overnight, including tunnel shafts, command centers and weapons storage facilities. 

Hamas militants were targeted and killed by an IDF drone operating on the direction of ground troops, IDF said.

It added that its naval troops had struck Hamas targets, including Hamas infrastructure and vessels. 

Some context: The Israel Defense Forces has previously said it struck more than 400 targets across Gaza in the first 24 hours following the collapse of a week-long truce with Hamas.

Hisham Awartani, one of three Palestinian students who were shot while walking in Vermont is now paralyzed, his mother Elizabeth Price tells CNN. 

Price had previously shared that her son may not be able to move his legs for the rest of his life after a bullet became lodged in his spine.

Speaking to CNN, Price said they had launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to provide financial support for her son "as he prepares to move into this next phase of his life – recovery.”

“It's been a gut wrenching and difficult six days, but it's also been a remarkable and awe-inspiring time – first to watch Hisham and his two childhood friends meet this experience with resilience, strength and even deep concern for others (for each other, for their parents many miles away and for thousands of their people suffering under a brutal military bombardment) and, second, to see and feel the incredible support from all over the world, including messages of love and support from many of you,” Price said. 

A 20-year-old junior at Brown University, Hisham was coming to terms with the “very long road he has in front of him," Price said.

Awartani and his two friends -- Kinnan Abdalhamid of Haverford College and Tahseen Ali Ahmad of Trinity College – had been out for a walk in Burlington during the Thanksgiving holiday, chatting as they often did in English and Arabic, when they were shot, according to Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad.

In addition to Awartani’s life-altering spinal injury, the two other men were shot in the upper torso and lower extremities and hospitalized in the ICU, according to police. 

The suspect in the attack, 48-year-old Jason J. Eaton, was arrested and has been charged with three counts of attempted murder, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Authorities are investigating whether the incident was motivated by hate.

Price said Awartani was scheduled to be released from the hospital next week and will go on to receive rehabilitation care. 

Price also told CNN that Tahseen Ali Ahmad has been released from the hospital and his mother has now joined him after successfully obtaining an emergency visa to travel from Ramallah in the West Bank to the United States.

Read More: One of the three Palestinian students shot in Vermont is paralyzed from the shooting, his mother says

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:

The military wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, has launched a barrage of rockets toward Tel Aviv, it said in a statement late Saturday local time.

The group claimed the action is in response to what it calls "Zionist massacres against civilians."

The rockets were fired from a location in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau.

Earlier Saturday evening, Israel's Iron Dome defense system launched at least a dozen intercepts over central Tel Aviv. It was the second round of threats over the city since the truce between Israel and Hamas ended.

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.

Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas, conveyed the group's official stance on negotiations and hostage-prisoner exchanges in an interview with Al Jazeera TV on Saturday. He said “there are no negotiations now” and there will be no more prisoner exchanges until there is a ceasefire in Gaza and “until the Zionist terrorist aggression is completely ended.”

The remaining hostages still being held captive by Hamas are soldiers and former soldiers, according to Al-Arouri, who added that “there will be no negotiations regarding them until the end of the aggression.” 

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Saturday that Hamas refuses to release 17 women and children.

Al-Arouri said adult male hostages — “all of whom served in the army, with some still on the reserve list” — are now subjected to different standards by Hamas. The Israeli prime minister’s office said Saturday that 117 men remain captive.

“We said from day one that the price for releasing Zionist prisoners is the liberation of all our prisoners, after the ceasefire,” Al-Arouri added.

More context: The negotiations between Israel and Hamas over hostages held captive in Gaza 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.

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 those women are considered soldiers, which Israel denies. 

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%.