December 3, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war has moved here.

Israel’s top domestic security official Ronen Bar said Israel is determined to eliminate Hamas all around the world even if it takes years, according to a recording aired by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan on Sunday.

Bar is the director of the Israeli Security Agency, also known as Shin Bet which is Israel’s domestic security agency, tasked with combating terrorism.

Bar’s mention of Munich is a reference to Israel’s targeted assassination campaign against Black September operatives and organizers, following the Palestinian terrorist group’s deadly attacks against Israelis at the 1972 Olympics in the German city.

Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends a press briefing at UN Headquarters in New York on November 29.

Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday and discussed the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories, emphasizing the need for de-escalation and a ceasefire, the country’s state news agency said.

The prime minister reaffirmed Qatar’s commitment, alongside its mediation partners, to ongoing efforts aimed at restoring calm to the region. Last month, Qatar brokered a deal between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the United States, to release foreign nationals and critically injured Palestinian civilians from Gaza to Egypt, according to sources familiar with the talks.

Smoke billows after Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza, as seen from southern Israel, on December 3.

On Sunday, the prime minister expressed concern that the continuation of bombings in the Gaza Strip after that humanitarian pause complicates mediation endeavors and worsens the humanitarian crisis.

Al-Thani conveyed Qatar’s unwavering condemnation of all forms of targeting civilians, particularly women and children, emphasizing that actions such as these, including the policy of collective punishment, are unacceptable under any circumstances.

According to the statement, the prime minister underscored the urgent requirement for opening humanitarian corridors to ensure the safe passage of relief and aid to Palestinians affected by the ongoing conflict.

Israel has “eliminated” the commander of Hamas’ Shati Battalion in an airstrike by a fighter jet on Sunday, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari in a Sunday press conference.

The commander was responsible for carrying out raids into Israeli territory in the October 7 attack, Hagari said.

“Following IDF and ISA intelligence, an IDF fighter jet struck and killed Haitham Khuwajari, the Commander of Hamas’ Shati Battalion. Under his command, Hamas terrorists carried out raids into Israeli territory on October 7th during the invasion and massacre in southern Israel,” a joint statement from the IDF and the Israel Security Agency that followed the press conference read.

The statement also said Khuwajarai “was in command of Hamas’ forces fighting against IDF soldiers in the Shati area.”

The IDF took control of Al-Shati refugee camp located in the northern Gaza strip in mid-November. 

Israel’s military says they will “continue to pursue the site and eliminate each of the commanders who command the area under their control as [the IDF] did yesterday in the Sajaya Battalion.”

Israeli military tanks maneuver near the border with Gaza on Sunday, December 3.

Israel is expanding its ground operations to the whole of the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday.

“The IDF is resuming and expanding the ground operation against Hamas’ strongholds across the whole Gaza Strip,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a news conference Sunday.

Hagari also underlined “the importance of air assistance provided by the Air Force to ground forces,” saying airstrikes against terror headquarters, weapons manufacturing facilities, terror tunnels, and rocket launching sites limit the threats posed against the ground operation.

“Our policy is clear — we will forcefully strike any threat posed against our territory,” he added. 

In this still from video obtained by Reuters, smoke fills the air in Jabalya, Gaza, on Sunday, December 3.

Renewed strikes hit the Jabalya refugee camp on Sunday, as seen in verified videos from the scene as well as in reporting by the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa. 

The CNN-obtained video shows huge plumes of smoke filling the skyline after the Sunday strike.  

A separate video released by Reuters news agency shows two tearful young boys searching frantically through the rubble for their father and brother, missing after the airstrike.

“My father’s been killed,” cries this boy after a strike on the Jabalya refugee camp Sunday.

Israel also targeted Jabalya on Saturday, killing prominent Palestinian scientist Sufyan Tayeh, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.  

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

On both Saturday and Sunday, Israel issued online warnings saying the military had resumed “working forcefully against Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.”  IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X, “To the residents of Jabalia, Al-Shuja’iya, Al-Zaytoun, and the Old City of Gaza - in order to preserve your safety, we call on you to evacuate your homes immediately.”

It is unknown if residents in Jabalya camp have internet access to see the warnings from the IDF. 

More than 850 dual nationals crossed the border from Gaza into Egypt on Saturday and Sunday, through the Rafah border crossing, according to an Egyptian official at the border. 

Of the 871 who crossed into Egypt, the Palestinian dual nationals included 17 American citizens and 130 Turkish citizens.

They also included dual nationals of Egypt, South Africa, Germany, Canada, Australia and Denmark, the official told CNN. 

An additional 13 wounded Palestinians were also evacuated through the Rafah border crossing this weekend to receive medical care in Egypt, an official at the border said. 

The official added that an aid convoy also crossed into Gaza.  

The Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza said it received 100 humanitarian aid trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent on Sunday. 

The trucks passed through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. The aid convoy contains food, water, relief assistance, medical supplies and medicines. 

Displaced Palestinians arrive at a camp near Rafah, Gaza, on December 3.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told civilians to leave large swaths of the Gaza Strip, including number of neighborhoods in southern parts of the enclave, after it resumed its military offensive there.

Earlier on Sunday, the IDF told people to evacuate several areas southeast of Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza where many have looked for shelter in recent weeks. 

The IDF told people to move further south.

It is not clear how many people in Gaza have access to social media because electricity and internet access are unreliable due to the war. 

Later on Sunday, the IDF also instructed people to leave some areas in northern Gaza, including Jabalya, Shejaiya, Zaytoun and the Old City of Gaza. Many of the areas have been previously targeted by heavy IDF strikes. 

The IDF released a new map of Gaza on Friday, dividing the strip of land into hundreds of numbered sectors that it called “evacuation zones.”

It said it would use the map to advise people to evacuate civilian areas where it says Hamas has placed military infrastructure.

The IDF also dropped leaflets in areas of southern Gaza which included a QR code that connects to the map when scanned — if users have internet access, which is very spotty in Gaza.

CNN’s attempts to contact people in Khan Younis to ask if they had seen the map were unsuccessful on Saturday and Sunday due to the poor communication links. 

The UN estimates that up to 1.8 million people in Gaza, or nearly 80 percent of the population, are internally displaced, having already had to leave their homes.

A Palestinian man inspects destruction caused by air strikes on December 3, in Khan Younis, Gaza.

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, the military said.

Meanwhile, the US has stepped up pressure on Israel to do more to protect civilians following the resumption of combat operations in Gaza.

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 were women and children.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed on Saturday that the country’s 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.

Here’s a look at more headlines from today:

Israeli soldiers killed: Israel says two more soldiers have died in their offensive in the Gaza Strip. Several others were “lightly injured” as a result of an anti-tank missile being fired toward an IDF vehicle in Beit Hillel in Northern Israel. 

UK sends flights: The United Kingdom will fly surveillance aircraft over Gaza to help Israel locate the hostages taken by Hamas in the 7 October attacks. The UK government said it has been working with other countries “to secure the release of hostages, including British nationals, who have been kidnapped.”

IDF destroys tunnels: The IDF said it has destroyed about 500 Hamas tunnels in Gaza during its offensive. It also claimed it has located more than 800 tunnel shafts in the Palestinian enclave, claiming many of the tunnel shafts “were located in civilian areas” and inside civilian structures. 

Netanyahu demands investigation: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday has called for a “thorough inquiry” into the fatal shooting of Yuval Doron Castleman, the civilian who responded to Thursday’s Jerusalem shooting attack and was himself shot and killed, apparently by a soldier who also responded.

Israel peace activists reconsider position: When human rights activist Ziv Stahl was awakened to the booms of rocket fire on October 7, while staying at her sister’s home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, she did not for a moment anticipate the scale of the terrorist attack unfolding around her. Nor did she imagine the horror she would feel when she later called the police, who “basically told me no one is coming.” Read the full story here.

US Sen. Lindsey Graham and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

US Sen. Lindsey Graham rejected Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s contention that further civilian casualties in Gaza could produce even more insurgents and replace “a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”

The Republican senator went on to characterize Austin as “naive,” saying he has “lost all confidence” in him.

“Secretary Austin is telling Israel things that are impossible to achieve,” Graham said. “Secretary Austin, the reason Palestinians are dying: Gaza is so condensed, Hamas has tunnels under apartments, under schools, under hospitals.”

Graham added that he understands the theory of what retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal has called “insurgent math,” an idea that collateral civilian death in warfare can be a catalyst for creating insurgents, but argued Gaza’s population “has been radicalized for decades.”

“Do you know what they teach in the schools?” Graham questioned. “The idea that somehow we’re or Israel is radicalizing the people in Gaza is ridiculous’”

“If we were attacked like this, which we were in 9/11, if somebody called for us within two months to have a ceasefire against al-Qaeda, we would’ve laughed them out of town, we would have run them out of town,” he said, also criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris’ Saturday statement that “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.” 

Aid for Israel: Meanwhile, said he would not vote for a bill to aid Israel and Ukraine if US immigration restrictions he and his GOP colleagues have advocated for are not included in the proposed legislation.

“I think there are votes for Israel apart from the package,” he contended. “Republicans overwhelmingly support Israel — so do most Democrats. Republicans are divided on Ukraine.”

On Saturday, Israel 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 negotiators were from Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. The statement said it was the head of the agency, David Barnea, who recalled the team.

Remember: An agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached with the help of foreign mediation and saw a seven-day pause in fighting, with the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. More aid was also able to flow into the enclave during the truce.

The pause began on November 24 and was renewed twice before ending on Friday morning.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv , Israel, on October 28.  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday called for a “thorough inquiry” into the fatal shooting of Yuval Doron Castleman, the civilian who responded to Thursday’s Jerusalem shooting attack and was himself shot and killed, apparently by a soldier who also responded.

Castleman died at Shaare Zedek medical center after being transported there critically wounded at the scene of the attack, the hospital announced late Thursday. Three other victims did earlier on Thursday.

Videos of the attack circulating widely on social media and aired on Israeli television show Castleman run across the road when he sees two men shooting at people at a Jerusalem bus stop. He fires his handgun at them several times as they return to their car after shooting at people. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the attackers’ car, a uniformed soldier also begins shooting. Castleman, apparently realizing he could be mistaken for one of the attackers, throws his pistol away, drops to his knees, opens his jacket to show he is not wearing a suicide vest, and raises his hands. The soldier appears to shoot him after his hands are raised. 

The Israel Defense Forces originally said it would not investigate the incident. 

Amid widespread media coverage of Castleman’s death, Israel Police said they would investigate it, and the IDF then said it would join the investigation because the suspect in the killing is a soldier.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Israel Friday cited it as a violation of the pause in hostilities between Hamas and Israel.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said Sunday that several of its soldiers were “lightly injured” as a result of an anti-tank missile being fired toward an IDF vehicle in Beit Hillel in Northern Israel. 

The IDF said the injuries were caused by “fragments” and that the IDF vehicle was damaged in the attack.

The IDF said that it identified several missile launches in the Har Dov area, some of which fell inside Lebanese territory. It said its artillery was striking the sources of the fire.

Some context: The Har Dov area, also known as Shebaa Farms, is a disputed strip of land between Lebanon and Syria that is controlled by Israel, and is adjacent to the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. It is a site of frequent cross-border fire between the IDF and Hezbollah. 

Hezbollah said on Sunday that it targeted several sites, including the Shebaa Farms on Sunday, in “support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.” The group is the most powerful paramilitary force in the Middle East

Smoke rises over damged buildings in Gaza, on December 3.

The Israeli military claimed to have destroyed at least 500 tunnel shafts during its offensive in Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed it has located more than 800 tunnel shafts in the Palestinian enclave, claiming many of the tunnel shafts “were located in civilian areas” and inside civilian structures. 

“Some of the tunnel shafts connected Hamas’ strategic assets via the underground tunnel network. In addition, many miles of the tunnel routes have been destroyed” the IDF said in the statement on Sunday.

Some context: Israel maintains Hamas is embedding itself in civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and children’s playgrounds, that it uses for military purposes, making them legitimate targets.

In November, the Israeli military raided Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, and claimed it is being used Hamas as a shield for its operations. Hamas and health officials insisted it was only a medical facility.

In 2021, Hamas claimed to have built 500 kilometers (311 miles) worth of tunnels under Gaza, though it is unclear if that figure was accurate or posturing. 

CNN cannot independently verify the claims by Israel or Hamas.

When human rights activist Ziv Stahl was awakened to the booms of rocket fire on October 7, while staying at her sister’s home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, she did not for a moment anticipate the scale of the terrorist attack unfolding around her. Nor did she imagine the horror she would feel when she later called the police, who “basically told me no one is coming.”

That day saw Hamas militants murder her sister-in-law and several prominent peace activists living in the kibbutz, one of the communities that bore the brunt of the attack on Israel.

Stahl, who is the executive director of the human rights organization Yesh Din, says she is not calling for revenge over what happened that day nor is she taking a pacifist position on Israel’s ensuing war in Gaza against Hamas. “I am not saying ceasefire at any cost,” she said. “Israel has a right to defend itself and protect Israeli citizens,” she explained, but not indiscriminately or at the cost of thousands of Palestinian lives.

Her position, which she described as “complicated,” speaks to the challenge Israel’s peace movement faces when coming to terms with the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust.

Read more about Stahl’s struggle here:

People carry signs during a demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israel, on December 2, calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The UK Ministry of Defence will conduct surveillance flights over Gaza to help locate hostages taken by Hamas during its terror attack in southern Israel on October 7.

The UK government said it has been working with other countries “to secure the release of hostages, including British nationals, who have been kidnapped.”

It will conduct surveillance flights over the Eastern Mediterranean, including over Israel and Gaza, as part of the operation. The government did not say when or how many of these flights will take place.

“Surveillance aircraft will be unarmed, do not have a combat role, and will be tasked solely to locate hostages,” the statement said, adding that “only information relating to hostage rescue will be passed to the relevant authorities responsible for hostage rescue.”

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not respond to a question on the number of British nationals believed to be held hostage in Gaza.

Earlier this week, the law firm Mishcon de Reya said it was representing three British families whose close family members are being held hostage.

Israel and the US had been flying surveillance drones over Gaza for weeks. The Pentagon said last month it was conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights. On Tuesday, the Pentagon said it had “paused” the flights as part of the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The truce ended on Friday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said two more soldiers have died in their offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

The IDF said one died of wounds sustained three weeks ago, and a second was killed on Saturday. A total of 66 soldiers have died since Israel launched its ground offensive on Gaza last month, the IDF said.

The latest deaths come after Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is seen in California on Friday.

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.

Photo of Hisham Awartani, one of three Palestinian students shot in VT, with his mother, Elizabeth Price.

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