Egyptian foreign minister says Israel is blocking opening of Rafah border crossing
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October 16, 2023 - Israel-Hamas war news

By Tara Subramaniam, Adam Renton, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Christian Edwards, Dakin Andone, Mike Hayes, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury, Zoe Sottile, Amir Vera and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 0821 GMT (1621 HKT) October 17, 2023
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2:29 p.m. ET, October 16, 2023

Egyptian foreign minister says Israel is blocking opening of Rafah border crossing

From CNN's Lucas Lilieholm

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry listens to his French counterpart Catherine Colonna during a joint press conference at the Egyptian foreign ministry headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on October 16.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry listens to his French counterpart Catherine Colonna during a joint press conference at the Egyptian foreign ministry headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on October 16. Amr Nabil/AP

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said there has been no progress in efforts to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference with his French counterpart, Shoukry blamed Israel for the continued closure of the crossing.

"The Israeli government has not yet taken a position that would allow the crossing to be opened from the Gaza side, allowing the entry of aid or the exit of citizens from third countries," he said.

Egypt supports the opening of the crossing and that aid vehicles were standing by for permission to cross, Shoukry said.

"Egypt has been working since the beginning of this crisis and escalation to have the crossing open and allow the entry of humanitarian aid. A large number of it has been gathered in El-Arish," he said. 

Five empty UN petrol trucks are now waiting at the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing, hoping to cross over and refuel in Egypt, a Palestinian official responsible for the Rafah crossing told CNN on Monday.

The Israeli prime minister’s office denied Monday there are any arrangements for the opening of the Rafah border.

6:47 a.m. ET, October 16, 2023

Blinken arrives in Jerusalem to meet with Israeli officials

From CNN's Jennifer Hansler

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 16.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 16. Jacquelyn Martin/Reuters

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Jerusalem for his meetings with Israeli officials, according to the traveling press.

The top US diplomat did not travel to Jerusalem when he visited last week. Instead, the meetings were held in Tel Aviv, which is where the airport is located.

According to the TV pooler, the motorcade passed military vehicles on the roughly 35 minute drive to Jerusalem and the road was lined with Israeli flags. 

6:24 a.m. ET, October 16, 2023

Dozens buried in mass graves in Gaza City, Hamas government media office says

From CNN’s Mostafa Salem in Abu Dhabi, Teele Rebane and Mihir Melwani in Hong Kong

Dozens of unidentified bodies have been buried in mass graves in Gaza City, according to head of the Hamas-controlled government media office.

“Because dozens of other martyrs were incoming, children, babies, women, men, elders, we were inclined to perform our rightful and moral duty toward those martyrs to bury them. We have prepared a mass grave in the Emergency Grave to bury those who have not been identified,” Salama Marouf said in a video published on Sunday.

Social media videos verified by CNN show dozens of bodies wrapped in white plastic brought from Gaza’s Shifa hospital to a burial site where they were laid to rest in neat rows.

Gaza has come under intense bombardment from Israeli airstrikes in the days after Hamas' terror attack on Israel on October 7.

6:23 a.m. ET, October 16, 2023

Death toll in Gaza surpasses 2,700, health ministry says

From CNN’s Abeer Salman and Manveena Suri

Palestinian paramedics cry outside Al-Shifa hopsital in Gaza City on October 16.
Palestinian paramedics cry outside Al-Shifa hopsital in Gaza City on October 16. Dawood Neme/AFP/Getty Images

Israeli military airstrikes have killed at least 2,750 people and injured more than 9,700, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said in a statement Monday.

In the West Bank, 58 people have been killed and more than 1,250 injured, the ministry added.

Some context: Casualties in Gaza since October 7 have surpassed the number of those killed during the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict, a ministry spokesperson said on Sunday.

Until now, 2014 had been the deadliest year on record in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with at least 2,251 Palestinians killed in Gaza across 51 days of war, according to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

6:05 a.m. ET, October 16, 2023

Behind the mysterious subterranean tunnel network used by Hamas

From CNN's Joshua Berlinger

Armed Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, military wing of Hamas, deploy at a tunnel in Shujaya neighborhood of Gaza City, Gaza, on August 17, 2014.
Armed Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, military wing of Hamas, deploy at a tunnel in Shujaya neighborhood of Gaza City, Gaza, on August 17, 2014. Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The myriad tunnels under Gaza are best known as passageways used to smuggle goods from Egypt and launch attacks into Israel.

But there exists a second underground network that the Israel Defense Forces colloquially refer to as the “Gaza metro.” It’s a vast labyrinth of tunnels, by some accounts several kilometers underground, used to transport people and goods; to store rockets and ammunition caches; and house Hamas command and control centers, all away from the prying eyes of the IDF’s aircraft and surveillance drones.

Hamas in 2021 claimed to have built 500 kilometers (311 miles) worth of tunnels under Gaza, though it is unclear if that figure was accurate or posturing. If true, Hamas’ underground tunnels would be a little less than half the length of the New York City subway system.

“It’s a very intricate, very large – huge – network of tunnels on a rather small piece of territory,” said Daphne Richemond-Barak, a professor at Israel’s Reichman University and expert on underground warfare.

It’s unclear how much the tunnel network would have cost Hamas, which governs the impoverished coastal strip. The figure is likely significant, both in terms of manpower and capital.

Gaza has been under a land, sea and air blockade by Israel, as well as a land blockade by Egypt, since 2007 and is not believed to possess the type of massive machinery typically used to build tunnels deep underground. Experts say that diggers using basic tools likely burrowed deep underground to dig the network, which is wired with electricity and reinforced by concrete. Israel has long accused Hamas of diverting concrete meant for civilian and humanitarian purposes toward the construction of tunnels.

Hamas’ critics also say that the group’s massive expenditures on tunnels could have instead paid for civilian bomb shelters or early warning networks like those across the border in Israel.

Read more about the "Gaza Metro"

6:01 a.m. ET, October 16, 2023

Blinken will meet with Israel's defense minister and main opposition leader

From CNN's Jennifer Hansler

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 16.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 16. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and opposition leader Yair Lapid, according to a US official.

Blinken will also meet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, during his visit to the country.

In response to Hamas' terror attack on October 7, Israel formed an emergency government and war management cabinet. Lapid did not join the emergency government.

2:30 p.m. ET, October 16, 2023

UN emergency relief chief "hoping to hear some good news" about Rafah crossing

From CNN’s Jennifer Hauser

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths speaks during a joint press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 27.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths speaks during a joint press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 27. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

The UN's emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths reiterated Monday the desperate need for aid to get into Gaza.

"We need access for aid. We are in deep discussions with the Israelis, with the Egyptians and with others, hugely helped by Secretary (Antony) Blinken in his travels around the region," Griffiths said in a video from the UN Monday.

Blinken has been on a whistle-stop tour of several Middle Eastern nations over the past few days, as part of an urgent effort to prevent Israel's war against Hamas and a resulting civilian catastrophe in Gaza from escalating into a widening regional conflict.

After meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Sunday, Blinken promised that the Rafah crossing into Egypt -- the last remaining exit for Gazans -- "will be open."

"I'm hoping to hear some good news this morning about getting aid through Rafah... into Gaza to help those million people who have moved south as well as those who live there already," Griffiths said.

Griffiths said he will go to the region Tuesday to help with the crisis.

5:23 a.m. ET, October 16, 2023

Israel says 199 people being held hostage in Gaza

From CNN's Lindsay Isaac

At least 199 people are being held hostage in Gaza, an Israeli official said Monday, in a sharp revision up from the previous count of 155.

The families of the 199 hostages have been informed, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Monday.

5:30 a.m. ET, October 16, 2023

UN Palestinian refugee agency calls for lifting of Gaza siege

From CNN's Lucas Lilieholm

The communications director of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA has called for border crossings with Gaza to be opened to allow humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians.

“Before the seventh of October, UNRWA used to bring in supplies from the Israeli crossings so right now what we’re calling for is to lift the siege. We are ready. We would like and we would urge all those who have influence on parties to the conflict to open up Gaza so that UNRWA is able to bring in much needed supplies,” Juliette Touma told CNN Monday.

She said 1 million people in Gaza had been forced to flee their homes with at least half of them sheltering in UN facilities and that the need for food and fuel was dire.

“We need fuel. We need wheat flour, we need other basic supplies. UNRWA has not been able to deliver anything in the past week plus, so we need to get in those supplies as soon as possible. Fuel especially so that the water can come back to people in the Gaza strip," she said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office told CNN on Sunday that Israel has restored water to southern Gaza.

On Monday, the director of Gaza’s water authority Munther Shublaq disputed that claim, telling CNN that water has not been supplied to the enclave.