November 6, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

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

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in front of the morgue in Deir al Balah on October 31.

The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 has surpassed 10,000, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah drawing from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave. 

More than 70% of those killed were children, women and the elderly, while some 24,000 people have been injured, according to the ministry.

On Monday, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza said the death toll in the enclave had risen to more than 10,000.

Some background: Israel declared war on Hamas after the Islamist militant group launched a brutal attack on October 7, killing 1,400 in Israel and kidnapping more than 240. Israel retaliated by launching an air and ground offensive on Gaza, vowing to eliminate the militant group. 

Thousands more Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the past month than during conflicts with Israel spanning the past 15 years.

The United Nations Human Rights Office said the attacks last week on Gaza’s largest refugee camp “could amount to war crimes” given the scale of casualties and destruction. 

More than 60% of Gaza’s hospitals and medical centers are now out of service, according to a statement from the Palestinian Authority Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila.

Al-Kaila said that 16 of 35 hospitals as well as 51 of 72 medical centers are no longer operational due to the fuel and medical supply shortages as well as the Israeli bombardment. 

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has also issued an urgent appeal to international health and relief organizations to provide aid and supplies to Gaza, warning about the repercussions of fuel shortages in the Al-Quds Hospital that is sheltering 14,000 displaced people. 

Israeli airstrikes hit near the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City on Monday night, according to a statement by the Palestine Red Crescent Society. 

CNN reached out to the Israeli military but did not immediately hear back.

In previous statements, the Israeli military maintained that it has requested civilians in Gaza City move south of Wadi Gaza, a waterway bisecting the center of the enclave, for safety. Earlier, it said it had struck 450 Hamas targets in the strip in 24 hours. 

On Sunday, large explosions rocked the vicinity of the Al-Quds hospital, resulting in casualties, including a number of deaths, according to the Red Crescent group. 

More than 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military offensive nearly a month ago, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the Palestinian enclave said Monday.

Israel declared war on Hamas after the Islamist militant group launched a brutal attack on October 7, killing 1,400 in Israel and kidnapping more than 240. Israel retaliated by launching an air and ground offensive on Gaza, vowing to eliminate the militant group.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Monday it has struck hundreds of Hamas targets and taken control of a military compound in Gaza over the last 24 hours.

Inside the enclave, communication services are slowly being restored to some parts of Gaza after it was cut out over the weekend. On average, about 30 trucks carrying humanitarian aid have been passing through the border each day, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Ramallah said. However, this still does not include fuel supplies.

Here’s what else to know:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses world leaders during the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2023, in New York City.

Israel will have the “overall security responsibility” in Gaza for an “indefinite period” after the war ends, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in an interview that aired on ABC News on Monday. 

The prime minister also repeated that Israel will not allow a general ceasefire until all hostages are released by Hamas. 

However, Netanyahu said he was open to short pauses to take place. 

Netanyahu also addressed the role of Iran and Hezbollah in the conflict, cautioning them from getting more involved. 

“I think they’ve understood that if they enter the war in a significant way, the response will be very, very powerful and I hope they don’t make that mistake,” Netanyahu told ABC. 

The United States is planning to transfer $320 million worth of precision-guided bomb equipment to Israel, according to three people familiar with the matter, amid Israel’s ongoing aerial bombardment of Gaza as part of its war on Hamas. 

The sale of the Spice Family Gliding Bomb Assemblies — a type of precision bomb kit that can turn unguided bombs into GPS-guided munitions — to Israel was approved by the relevant US congressional committees several months ago, before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and sparked a war, one of the sources said. 

But the State Department did not formally notify congressional leaders that the transfer was moving forward until October 31, according to the sources and a formal notification reviewed by CNN. 

The notification, addressed to the Speaker of the House, House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says that defense contractor Rafael USA would transfer “defense articles, technical data, and defense services to support procurement, inspection, assembly, testing, and shipment of Spice Family Gliding Bomb Assemblies for end-use by the Ministry of Defense for Israel.”  

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the US plans to transfer the kits.

Some background: SPICE stands for Smart, Precise Impact, and Cost Effective. The weapons are produced by Rafael USA, the American branch of one of Israel’s most prominent arms manufacturers.

The guidance kits are similar to JDAMs — or joint direct attack munitions — produced by the US in that they are also fin and steering kits that turn unguided “dumb” bombs into guided “smart” bombs. The US began expediting the delivery of JDAMs to Israel shortly after the start of the war, a senior defense official said in late October, which was one of Israel’s top needs, along with interceptor missiles for its aerial defense systems.

A State Department official told CNN that “as a matter of policy, we are unable to comment on or confirm specific defense trade licensing or compliance activity.”

The transfer comes as several countries have called for a ceasefire in Gaza, as the civilian death toll from Israeli air strikes continues to rise. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday that “many, many thousands of innocent people” have been killed in Gaza, and that the US has only seen “some indications” in “certain scenarios” that Israel is making an effort to minimize the civilian death toll there.

American troops were attacked an additional eight times since Friday morning by one-way attack drones and rocket barrages in Iraq and Syria as US forces face ramped-up assaults by Iranian-backed groups.

The new incidents — one on Friday afternoon, another on Saturday, five more on Sunday and one on Monday morning — mark a total of at least 38 attacks on US and coalition forces in those two nations since October 17, 10 days after the start of a bloody war between Israel and Hamas.

CNN has reported that Iran is seeking to capitalize on the backlash to US support for Israel, and while Tehran may not be explicitly directing the groups’ attacks, it does appear to be encouraging them. 

While the increase in attacks started after the brutal attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, Pentagon officials have declined to draw a direct correlation between the increase in attacks and the conflict in Gaza, saying instead that Iran has long sought to force the US from the region.

“Iran’s strategic objective for a very long time, way before October 7, was to force US forces to withdraw from the region,” a senior defense official said on October 30. “We have maintained tens of thousands of US forces across the region for decades. We have increased our air defense posture. Most of these attacks have been unsuccessful. But Iran’s strategic objective has not changed.”

The dozens of attacks have largely focused on US and coalition forces at Al-Asad Airbase, Iraq, and al-Tanf Garrison, Syria, with some attacks near Mission Support Site Green Village in Syria; Bashur, Iraq; Mission Support Site Euphrates, Syria; Erbil Airbase, Iraq; Shaddadi, Syria; Rumalyn Landing Zone, Syria; and Tall Baydar, Syria.

On Friday afternoon, a one-way attack drone was shot down near Shaddadi, Syria, with no casualties or infrastructure damage reported, a US official updated on Monday. On Saturday morning, another one-way attack drone was shot down near Shaddadi with no casualties or infrastructure damage reported.

The attacks increased in frequency on Sunday totaling five separate incidents; one-way attack drones were shot down near Tall Baydar, Syria; al-Tanf Garrison, Syria; and three times near Al-Asad Airbase, Iraq. One attack on Al-Asad also included a multi-rocket attack alongside multiple one-way attack drones.

Another one-way attack drone was shot down near Tall Baydar, Syria, on Monday morning. None of the attacks over the weekend resulted in casualties or damage to infrastructure, according to the US official.

“Most of these attacks were successfully disrupted by our military,” the US official said. “Most failed to reach their targets, thanks to our robust defenses.”

Read more about the attacks US forces are facing in Iraq and Syria.

In a private session Monday, the United Nations Security Council failed to reach a consensus on a draft resolution aimed at halting the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

“There is no agreement at this point,” said Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood.

The so-called E-10, consisting of 10 non-permanent member states of the Security Council, has drafted a resolution.

However, the United States and the United Kingdom, permanent members who possess veto power, have opposed it. Western powers, particularly the US and UK, are resistant to including language in the resolution that calls for an immediate ceasefire, a proposition supported by several other Council members.

There have been discussions about humanitarian pauses, Wood said, “and we’re interested in pursuing language on that score.” But he added there was disagreement within the Security Council on whether that would be acceptable.

China’s UN Ambassador Jun Zhang, echoed the sentiments expressed by Secretary-General António Guterres, emphasizing that “Gaza is a graveyard for children.” Zhang called for an urgent ceasefire to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“As we speak, Palestinian civilians continue to be killed. Children are bearing the brunt, as several US officials have stated already. Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. No one is safe,” Zhang said.

The United Arab Emirates emphasized the importance of upholding the rules of warfare. UAE Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, who co-initiated the meeting with China, underlined that discussions within the Council were ongoing, and nations were working to bridge their differences.

“We condemn the seventh October attacks by Hamas on Israel. We also condemned the indiscriminate attacks by Israel on the Gaza Strip. We express our grave concern that the continued detention of hostages and demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as their safety well-being and humane treatment consistent with international law,” Nusseibeh said.

Nusseibeh added that “the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals and the Gaza Strip and denying children access to humanitarian assistance are all very grave violations. against children.”

During the meeting, UN humanitarian officials briefed the Security Council on the dire humanitarian situation in the region.

Previous attempts to pass resolutions in the Security Council have faced challenges, including two US vetoes, further underscoring the complexity of reaching a consensus on this critical issue.

On a day of heavy Israeli bombardment, workers at central Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital saw more than 100 fatalities in a single day, according to the institution’s media office.

Separately, journalist Hassan Eslayeh saw dozens of casualties brought into the hospital Monday. Most came in private cars since people have not been able to call for emergency service due to the disruption in communications in Gaza.

Ambulances were seen following cars back to bombing sites and returning with more casualties.

CNN video shows more than 20 body bags lined up in front of the hospital during the day for funeral prayer. People then carried the bags into trucks and ambulances for burial.

People flee following Israeli air strikes on a neighbourhood in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, on November 6.

At least 70% of Gaza Strip’s 2 million people are now displaced with most living in appalling conditions at United Nations shelters, a spokesperson for a UN relief agency said.

“1.5 million people who moved there were forcibly displaced,” said Tamara Alrifa, the director of external relations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). “So, we’re talking about 70% of people who are displaced away from their homes.”

In a statement Monday, the agency described the conditions in the overcrowded UNRWA installations which are currently sheltering 717,000 internally displaced Gazans. It said the situation at the shelters is “inhumane” and deteriorating and warned of a risk of a public health crisis due to the damage to the water and sanitation infrastructure. 

The UN agency said the decomposition of bodies under collapsed buildings amid limited rescue efforts also continues to raise humanitarian and environmental concerns.

One UNRWA facility, the Khan Younis Training Centre (KYTC), is hosting more than 22,000 internally displaced people – and the space per person is less than 2 square meters (about 21 square feet), the organization said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar, as well as the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, on November 4, in Amman, Jordan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday asserted he made progress on the goals he set for a whirlwind Middle East trip as he departed with few tangible results to show for a flurry of meetings with leaders about the Israel-Hamas war.

The situation on the ground had shifted in the weeks since Blinken’s last trip to region, where he traveled just days after the deadly October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. 

But the stakes for this trip were just as high as Israel is poised to launch a new phase of its offensive in Gaza, a senior administration official said Friday.

Global condemnation of that offensive has continued to grow — sparking anti-American sentiment and threatening to create rifts among the US and its partners. Meanwhile, the civilian death toll in the war-torn Gaza Strip is mounting, and concerns about regional conflagration loom large.

Throughout his meetings in Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, Iraq and Turkey, Blinken’s priorities were focused on the need to protect civilians and increase humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza, pressing for the release of the hostages held by Hamas and preventing the conflict from expanding to the wider region.

He also repeatedly advocated for the idea of a “humanitarian pause” rather than a ceasefire.

As he departed Ankara for Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, the top US diplomat stressed that “all of this is a work in progress.”

He teased one particular point of progress on humanitarian assistance, saying, “I think you’ll see in the days ahead that that assistance can expand in significant ways so that more gets into people who need it and gets to the people who need it, as well as making sure that people can continue to come out of Gaza.”

Read more about Blinken’s Middle East trip.

Palestine Red Crescent teams received 93 trucks of humanitarian aid from the Egyptian Red Crescent at the Rafah crossing on Monday, the organization said.

The trucks contain food, water, medicines and medical supplies, it said. 

A total of 565 aid trucks have been received so far, but fuel has not been allowed to enter yet, the

The Rafah crossing reopened on Monday after being temporarily closed over the weekend following an Israeli airstrike that hit a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance.

United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received a phone call on Monday from US Vice President Kamala Harris to “discuss concerted efforts to enhance the urgent humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip and bolster the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians impacted by escalating military activity,” UAE state news WAM reported.

Both leaders underscored the immediate need to prevent the deterioration of humanitarian conditions for Gaza civilians, “safeguarding their lives in line with international humanitarian law, and prioritizing the delivery of relief and the establishment of safe corridors to facilitate the critical work of humanitarian organizations,” WAM reported.

Earlier the agency reported Al Nahyan had directed an Emirati field hospital be set up in Gaza. Five aircraft traveled Monday from Abu Dhabi to Egypt with equipment and supplies, according to the news agency.

“The field hospital, with a 150-bed capacity, is set to be established in multiple stages. It will encompass departments for general surgery, orthopedics, pediatrics, and gynecology, in addition to anesthesia and intensive care units catering to both children and adults,” WAM reported.

The UAE has previously pledged $20 million in urgent aid.

Palestinian workers who were stranded in Israel since the October 7 attacks show the number tags they were assigned while in Israeli custody, as they arrive near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt after crossing into Gaza at the Kerem Shalom commercial border crossing with Israel on November 3.

Palestinian workers who were expelled back to Gaza from Israel last week have accused Israeli authorities of “torture,” alleging they were stripped naked, held in cages, viciously beaten and, according to one worker’s account, subjected to electric shocks.

CNN spoke to Abdullah Al Radia and eight other men who returned to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel on Friday. Al Radia, who is from Beit Lahiya, a village in northern Gaza, told CNN he was working in Israel  — one of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza with permits to do so — when the war started.

Most workers from Gaza work in construction or agriculture. They tend to spend weeks away from home, rather than commuting, which is why so many were in Israel when Hamas launched its terror attack on Saturday, October 7.

Al Radia said that right after the war started, he and some of the other Gazan workers fled to Rahat, a predominantly Arab Bedouin city in southern Israel, where he says they were turned over to the Israeli army by local residents.

“(The military) took our phones and money, we couldn’t communicate with our families, we were given food on the floor in plastic bags,” he said.

When the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel was first launched, Israeli media reported initial fears that Hamas militants were among the workers with permits, although an Israeli security official later told CNN the men were detained for being in Israel illegally after their work permits were revoked, not for suspected terror activity.

The security official said that in some cases, their detention was also for their own protection, as they were at risk of violence from Israeli communities.

Six human rights organizations in Israel have filed a petition to Israel’s High Court arguing these detentions were “without legal authority and without legal grounds.”

CNN has reviewed some of the videos showing the alleged abuses and cannot independently verify them. They show people being detained, with their hands and feet tied, sitting in the sun, and being kicked and dragged around. One video shows a bus full of people who have been blindfolded, their hands tied.

The security official who spoke to CNN about these allegations said the IDF was investigating these videos and confirmed two — one showing IDF soldiers kicking a detained person and one showing a large group of detainees tied, blindfolded and humiliated — were genuine. The official said soldiers who took part in these videos were punished by the IDF.

Read more

Israel killed four Palestinians in the city of Tulkarem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Monday, according to the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said “four Hamas terrorists” were killed during an operation involving the Israel Securities Authority and Yamam (counter-terrorist unit), with assistance from the IDF, he said.

The men were identified as Jihad Shahada, 22, Azaddin Awwad, 25, Qasim Rajab, 20, and Mu’men Balaawi, 20, according to a statement from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Shahada, Awwad and Rajab were commanders belonging to Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the armed wing of the Fatah organization, not Hamas, according to a statement by the group announcing their death. It is unclear if Balaawi was a militant or to which group he belonged.

According to eyewitnesses, an undercover Israeli unit raided Tulkarem and fired bullets inside a vehicle, killing all four men. Videos obtained by CNN show a vehicle riddled with bullet scars, and one graphic clip shows the four men bloodied and battered inside the car.

Another clip shows hundreds of people carrying the bodies of the dead through a street, chanting “God is great,” some people carrying rifles and firing bullets into the air.

The incident brings the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since October 7 to 159, according to the Ministry of Health.

While the focus of Israel’s military efforts has been on Gaza, tensions are mounting in the West Bank, where Palestinians have been killed in confrontations with both Israeli forces and settlers.

This picture taken on November 19, 2018 shows a view of the Qatari-built Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics in Gaza City.

Qatar has condemned Israel for its allegations about the existence of a Hamas tunnel under Sheikh Hamad Hospital, which was funded by Qatar Fund for Development in northern Gaza, saying the claims were made “without any tangible evidence or independent investigation.”

The comments come one day after the Israeli military shared images that purport to show a tunnel opening at the Sheikh Hamad Hospital. 

El Emadi said the hospital was built with Israel’s approval and that targeting it would constitute a war crime.

“Targeting Sheikh Hamad Hospital in Gaza means depriving thousands of patients of its services, which will be added to the series of war crimes committed by the occupation against civilians and their service facilities, especially the atrocities which recently affected several hospitals and ambulance conveys,” he said.

On Sunday, the head of the Hamas government media Salama Marouf called for the United Nations to verify Israel’s claims about the use of hospitals as shields.

“We are ready to receive any international committee assembled by the UN, the WHO, the International Red Cross, or any international body to come and examine closely and refute the lies and slanders about hospitals,” Marouf said. “[The hospitals] are used for one purpose, which is to provide medical care to the wounded, injured and sick.”

Some context: Qatar finds itself in a delicate diplomatic position in the Israel-Hamas war. The gas-rich monarchy has maintained a relationship with Hamas while being one of the United States’ closest allies in the region. Meanwhile, it has also kept back-channel contacts with Israel.

Mediation has long been one of Qatar’s most “marketable skills,” said Joost R. Hiltermann, director of the Middle East North Africa program at the International Crisis Group think tank in Brussels, referring to the Gulf state’s long history of negotiating between international players at odds with one another.

The Israeli military said Monday it destroyed a Hezbollah weapons storage facility and struck other targets in Lebanon in response to rocket fire.

Earlier Monday, the Lebanon branch of Hamas’ military wing claimed credit for firing 16 rockets toward Israel, saying it was retaliation for Israel’s strikes in Gaza. 

The Israeli military said it was responding with artillery fire to the origin of about 30 launches from Lebanon toward northern Israel. 

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement its fighter jets, with support from artillery strikes, hit “a number of sites containing technological assets belonging to Hezbollah, a weapons storage facility, launch posts, and terrorist infrastructure.” 

The news comes as the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border has grown more active in recent days, with Israeli forces trading fire with Hezbollah and other militant groups.

The Al Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza was struck Sunday night during an intense night of Israeli bombing, several residents told a journalist working for CNN.

CNN and AFP video of the aftermath showed damage consistent with airstrikes. Another video by AFP showed a wounded resident of the Al Shati camp arriving at the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday night, shortly after the reported strikes. 

The Israel Defense Forces said earlier that it had struck 450 Hamas targets in Gaza overnight. 

“Suddenly we heard sounds of two airstrikes, it was too loud, it felt like an earthquake, we saw stones flying everywhere,” one resident said.

The IDF has not yet commented on the incident but has repeatedly called on civilians to move south of Wadi Gaza as it intensifies its assault on Hamas in Gaza City and the northern part of the enclave. The IDF has said Hamas is embedding itself in civilian infrastructure and that it will strike Hamas “wherever necessary.” 

Hamas said it has been fighting Israeli forces in the camp and in the adjacent Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. 

A video published by Hamas’ military wing, Al Qassam Brigades, on Saturday showed militants firing rocket-propelled grenades on Israeli tanks from narrow streets and from destroyed buildings. Hamas said it was engaging Israeli forces on the borders of Al Shati Camp and the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.  

On Monday, Hamas said it targeted Israeli military vehicles in the same locations. 

CNN could not independently verify Hamas’ claims.

US President Joe Biden listens to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he joins a meeting of the Israeli war cabinet in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 18.

US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed hostages, humanitarian aid and “the possibility of tactical pauses” in their call Monday, the White House said.

Biden “reiterated his steadfast support for Israel and the protection of Israeli citizens from Hamas and all other threats while also emphasizing the imperative to protect Palestinian civilians and reduce civilian harm in the course of military operations,” according to the White House readout. 

The president “also discussed the situation in the West Bank and the need to hold extremist settlers accountable for violent acts.”

The two leaders agreed to speak again in the coming days.

Some background: The rising death toll as Israel’s bombardment campaign on the densely populated strip has drawn international condemnation. On Monday, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the Palestinian enclave said more than 10,000 people have died since Israel launched its war on Hamas.

The United Nations Human Rights Office said last week’s attacks on Gaza’s largest refugee camp “could amount to war crimes” given the scale of casualties and destruction.

Israel has said that it is targeting Hamas operatives in Gaza, adding that Hamas “intentionally embeds its assets in civilian areas” and uses civilians as human shields, a defense echoed by US officials.

The United States has backed Israel’s campaign throughout the war, saying it has a right to defend itself. It vetoed a UN Security Council resolution for humanitarian pauses to deliver aid into Gaza on October 18, but Biden last week said that he was supportive of a humanitarian pause to allow for the release of more hostages held in Gaza.