December 21, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Israel has assured the United States of its plans “to transition from a higher intensity level of operations ... to something a bit lower-intensity,” as its objectives shift in Gaza, the White House said Thursday.

“The Israelis say they recognize the need to transition to a different phase of fighting — I mean, in any military campaign, wherever you’re going to transition to a different set of objectives, you're going to achieve those different set of objectives through different tactics and operations, and that's just standard for the conduct of military operations,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

Kirby declined to offer a timeline on when exactly Israel would transition to that new phase, adding the Israelis “will decide when (and) they will decide what lower intensity looks like and what that means.” 

Kirby pointed to a series of high-level trips to the region, noting Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and national security adviser Jake Sullivan have all traveled to Israel recently, where officials “talked to them about our lessons learned in doing those kinds of transitions … as well as asking them some tough questions.”

US President Joe Biden has been in contact with members of his national security team about the proposed resolution calling for a suspension of fighting and an increase in humanitarian assistance for Gaza, the White House said Thursday.

Kirby declined to weigh in on how a possible veto from the US over disputes on who is tasked with inspecting humanitarian aid delivered into Gaza would reflect on the Biden administration on the international stage. 

“Let's not get ahead of ourselves — there isn't a resolution to vote on right now, we're still working with our partners up there about what that language ought to be,” he said. “It is important to us, of course, that the humanitarian situation in Gaza gets addressed."

Still, he acknowledged, that proposed language tasking the UN with exclusive responsibility for inspecting the delivery of aid could be a sticking point. 

“I'm not going to negotiate this language here from this podium — we're still actively working with our UN partners about the resolution and the language itself,” he said. “Israel has had — and understandably so — has had a role in the inspection regime, a key role, a pivotal role, and we understand and respect that, and I think I'll leave it at that.”

Videos captured by the World Health Organization (WHO) inside of Al Shifa Hospital and Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in northern Gaza show the "dire situation" facing hospitals in the enclave amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the West Bank and Gaza, was inside Gaza for two weeks and told CNN that the hospital system is "on its knees" and that the emergency department inside one hospital is facing a "bloodbath." 

WHO videos show the windows of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital completely shattered, while WHO staff were given a tour of the destruction both inside and outside of the hospitals. Patients are seen being treated for intense wounds inside makeshift rooms outside of the hospital complex.

Patients are also seen in corridors after having been moved to various overflow areas of the hospital. Peeperkorn said that hospitals are at up to 200% of their bed occupancy rate.

Bodies, covered in white cloths, are said to have been waiting for days in the courtyard outside.

Peeperkorn told CNN that there is "no safe space, even in the south" of Gaza as "hostilities making it incredibly difficult and very unsafe to move supply, staff, and patients."

The US on Thursday raised concerns over a draft United Nations resolution calling for a suspension in fighting and an increase in humanitarian assistance for Gaza.

The US is arguing that the proposal of a UN-created monitoring mechanism for aid going into the Gaza Strip could slow down the delivery of critical assistance. 

The language over the cessation of hostilities “is not the issue of contention. There are differences but it won’t block adoption. It’s the monitoring mechanism,” a US official familiar with the discussions added.

“We are negotiating in good faith,” the official said. “UAE is deferring to Egypt. Egypt wants to distract from logistical problems in delivering aid through Rafah and get the UN to effectively secure distribution routes in Gaza, which it cannot do. It’s a mess. Fortunately, Kerem Shalom is coming online,” the official said, referring to the key border crossing.

The proposed language on the fighting was “urgent cessation,” the US official said. “We have proposed a more passive formulation, taking steps to create conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities. Israel is aware and can live with it. But, again, that’s not the stumbling block.

The remarks come as the UN Security Council has delayed a vote on the resolution three times as negotiations have been ongoing. The timing for a possible vote on the resolution today has yet to be announced.

A Hamas-linked financier, Abdelbasit Hamza, once sentenced for 10 years on corruption charges in Sudan, maintains a network of business interests in Europe despite being under US sanctions, leaked documents show.

His business dealings — linked by the US to Osama Bin Laden — span two decades and include a Cypriot firm, a Spanish real estate company, an Egyptian gold business, and a Sudan-based company sanctioned by the US less than a week after the October 7 attacks.

CNN, in conjunction with Israeli investigative platform Shomrim and the International Consortium for Investigative Journalism (ICIJ), has uncovered details of Hamza’s portfolio of businesses in Europe, part of a network of global assets previously estimated by Sudanese anti-corruption officials as worth over $2bn.

Hamza denies any involvement in Hamas financing. In a written response to CNN, he also denied any relationship to Osama Bin Laden.

Documents provided to CNN by the ICIJ from the “Cyprus Confidential” leak – a trove of more than 3.6 million documents analyzed by ICIJ and 68 media partners, including Shomrim – show Hamza is listed as owning a stake in Matz Holdings, a Cypriot firm incorporated in February 2005. Since its founding, Matz Holdings has held a lucrative concession to exploit two gold mines in Egypt.

Read more about the Hamas-linked financier who maintains a network of business interests in Europe despite being under US sanctions.

There were fresh exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah across the Lebanon-Israel border on Thursday.

Several attacks were launched from Lebanon toward the areas of Dovev, Avivim, and Har Dov near the border in northern Israel injuring two civilians, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

In turn, Israel's artillery and tanks had struck several locations in Lebanon in response to incoming fire, the IDF added.

Hezbollah said in a statement Thursday that it launched five attacks toward Israel that involved rockets, drones and artillery.

An elderly woman was killed in her home as a result of an Israeli strike on Maroun al-Ras in southern Lebanon early on Thursday, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.

A low-intensity conflict has been raging along the border following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, which elevated fears of a wider regional conflict.

Northern Gaza no longer has a functioning hospital, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday.

Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza was Al-Ahli Hospital but fuel, power, medical supply and staffing shortages have rendered it "minimally functional." 

His comments come as a grim milestone is reached in the war, with the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah announcing on Thursday that approximately 20,000 people have been killed as a result of Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7.

Meanwhile, Hamas has said it won't agree to any talks about prisoner swaps until after Israel ends its military operation in Gaza.

Here are the latest developments:

It was one of the first, and most searing, viral videos to emerge as the October 7 attack unfolded. A cell phone video released by Hamas shows 19-year-old Naama Levy being dragged by her hair at gunpoint by a terrorist in Gaza. Her hands are bound, her ankles cut. Her pants are soaked in blood.

Her mother, Dr. Ayelet Levy Shachar, describes the video as “beyond upsetting” and says she “can’t watch it in continuity.” But she thinks it’s important for the world to see.

Despite the release of 110 hostages so far – most of whom have been women and children – Naama still remains in Hamas captivity.

Levy Shachar, a doctor for the Israeli women’s national soccer team, is desperately worried about her daughter going without the medical attention she needs. “She’s injured on her legs… The days are passing and every day that passes, it’s even harder.”

“For her, time is running out,” Levy Shachar tells CNN.

Read the full story here.

Hamas won't agree to any talks about prisoner swaps until after Israel ends its military operation in Gaza, the group said Thursday.

“There is a Palestinian national decision that there should be no talks about prisoners or exchange deals except after a full cessation of aggression,” Hamas said in a statement, claiming to speak on behalf of all Palestinians. 

This comes as the head of Hamas’ political bureau Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for talks with Egyptian officials.

His visit came after Israel said it had proposed a weeklong pause in fighting in exchange for the release of 40 hostages, a similar deal to the one last month that brought a temporary truce.  

While Israel and Hamas are negotiating another release of hostages, they are not “near a final deal at the moment,” an Israeli official told CNN on Wednesday.

Israel is currently asking for all remaining hostages to be released as part of any deal, while a temporary ceasefire as part of the deal could last for a week or two weeks, the official said.