December 12, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel’s war with Hamas has moved here.

Seven Israeli soldiers, including a battalion commander, have been killed in a single incident in northern Gaza, Israel’s military said on Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, commander of the 13th battalion of the Golani Brigade, was among those killed, it said.

Details of the incident, which marks one of the biggest losses of life for Israeli forces during their ongoing offensive in the enclave, were not immediately made public.

Another soldier was killed in a separate incident Tuesday, bringing the number of Israeli troops killed in Gaza combat to 113, the military said.

At least 18,412 people have been killed in Gaza during Israeli attacks since October 7, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the enclave said Tuesday. 

This post has been updated to reflect the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza combat.

Israeli forces struck targets in Syria and Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the military said Tuesday, the latest in cross-border exchanges that have raised fears Israel’s war with Hamas could spark a wider regional conflict.

In Syria, Israeli warplanes and tanks struck several Syrian army posts and other military infrastructure in response to three launches from Syrian territory, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

Only one launch from Syria landed inside open ground in Israel, the IDF added.

It marks the first time in five days that Israel has reported incoming fire from Syrian territory.

By contrast, cross-border exchanges between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants based in southern Lebanon having been taking place daily for weeks.

In Lebanon, Israel said one of its fighter jets hit what it called military infrastructure and a Hezbollah launch post on Tuesday, after identifying incoming anti-tank missile and mortar fire launched across its northern border.

Displacement claim: Hagari also claimed that more than 100,000 people had recently fled their homes in southern Lebanon and moved north inside the country amid the cross-border exchanges. It is the first time Israel’s chief military spokesman has made such a claim about people leaving the region.

Hagari appeared to suggest they were fleeing escalating tensions, though he offered no direct explanation for the move and was not asked about it when taking questions from reporters.

The UN General Assembly voted Tuesday to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, in a rebuke to the United States which last week blocked a similar resolution in the smaller Security Council.

A majority of 153 nations voted for the resolution during the emergency special session, while 10 voted against and 23 abstained.

While a General Assembly vote is politically significant and seen as wielding moral weight, it is nonbinding, unlike a Security Council resolution.

The vote, hailed as “historic” by Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, comes as the war between Israel and Hamas enters its third month, and as medics and aid groups sound alarm bells on the humanitarian situation in besieged Gaza.

Here are other headlines you should know:

Hamas welcomed the United Nations General Assembly’ demand for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, urged the international community to sustain pressure on what he called the occupying forces and called for compliance with the UN decision.

In a short statement, he also condemned the “war of genocide and ethnic cleansing” against the Palestinian people.

On Tuesday, the General Assembly voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza with a majority of 153 nations voting in favor.

The brief resolution called for a ceasefire, for all parties to comply with international law, and for humanitarian access to hostages as well as their “immediate and unconditional” release.

Downpours have caused flooding in the tent camp in Deir al-Balahmsouthern Gaza.

Displaced families in Deir al-Balah in southern Gaza were struggling to keep water and mud out of their makeshift tents following intense downpours on Tuesday. 

A CNN video from a camp for internally displaced people shows children wading through mud and deep, dirty puddles. One woman can be seen trying to push water out of her tent where at least nine children, including a baby, are seeking shelter. 

Multiple downpours on Tuesday caused flash flooding of many of the tents in the camp, soaking mattresses and leaving families with no dry place to sleep or seek refuge. 

While some children were seen playing in the water, splashing around the puddles inside their makeshift homes, Rana Al-Najjar said she finds no joy in the rain. 

Walking around barefoot, the 13-year-old girl told CNN: “We are nine people living in this tent. Our tent is flooded with water, my siblings are freezing, and we don’t know what to do. We want to go back to our homes and not drown.” 

According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), almost 1.9 million people in Gaza, or nearly 85% of the besieged enclave’s population, were estimated to be internally displaced as of December 11. Some have been displaced multiple times. 

A UN tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, as seen on November 19

Not so long ago, Wajih Ajour had a steady job in Gaza City delivering bread in a bus. Now the 38-year-old, his wife and three children are destitute, sleeping in a tent in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and subsisting on lentils and beans. 

When the Israeli military warned civilians in northern Gaza and Gaza City to move south in October, Ajour piled his extended family into his bus and headed south.

The journey south was a nightmare, with nearby shelling causing the children to cry. Ajour remembers people jumping out of cars and running in panic. Eventually, they reached Khan Younis, a trip of only a few miles, long after dark.

That first night away from home, they slept on the ground with no covers or mattresses. That became the new normal.

Ajour said that even people who had left home with cash soon ran out because of high prices. 

“The longer the war lasts, the more the crisis increases for the people. So far, we are waiting for the return to our homes.”

Until then – even if the family home is still standing – Ajour and much of his family are living in a tent, which they had to buy.

Ajour said his family was receiving less help as more people converged on the south every day.

Ajour added he hopes the war ends “as soon as possible.”

Biden speaks during a joint press conference with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, December 12.

US President Joe Biden was asked Tuesday about reports that Israel has begun test-flooding some of the tunnels in the Gaza Strip with seawater to degrade the broader tunnel network, which it claims has been used by Hamas.

Biden told reporters during a news conference with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky that while he’s heard “assertions” that there are no hostages currently being held in those tunnels, his administration has not been able to confirm that beyond a doubt.

CNN reported Tuesday that the United States was informed by the Israelis that they’ve begun “carefully testing out” flooding some of Gaza’s tunnels with seawater “on a limited basis” to see if it will work to degrade the tunnel network on a larger scale. They assured the US they’re only doing so in tunnels where they do not believe hostages are being held, a US official said.

During the news conference, Biden said he’d had conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to make sure that we don’t forget what we’re doing here,” and to focus on protecting civilian life when possible, even in the wake of atrocities committed on Hamas’ October 7 attack.

The president pointed to an array of efforts his administration has undertaken to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, offering praise for Israel and Arab partner nations in delivering aid, including food and fuel.

A pair of top US officials will travel to Israel this week for key meetings during a critical moment for the war, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to the region “this week,” Biden said. He will meet with the Israeli War Cabinet, the president added, to “emphasize our commitment to Israel as well as the need to protect civilian life and assure more humanitarian assistance flows and reaches into Gaza for Palestinian civilians.” 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will also travel to the region. 

Austin, Biden said, will “step up the international efforts to protect the free flow of commerce through the Red Sea.” 

Those meetings come following a warning from Biden that Israel was losing international support for its campaign against Hamas amid heavy bombardment of Gaza. 

In an apparent change from previous policy statements, Canada announced Tuesday that it would back a non-binding UN resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a joint statement with the leaders of Australia and New Zealand earlier Tuesday saying they wanted to see a pause resumed “and support urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire.”

Canada has previously supported humanitarian pauses but has never categorically called for a ceasefire.

Speaking Tuesday, Trudeau called the statement “comprehensive” and said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Canada’s position to join the international call for a humanitarian ceasefire. 

Canada’s foreign minister underscored the reason for the change, telling reporters Tuesday that Canada continues to condemn the “horrific” brutality employed by Hamas. 

Some background: The UN General Assembly voted Tuesday to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, days after the United States blocked a similar resolution in the smaller Security Council.

A majority of 153 nations voted for the ceasefire resolution in the emergency special session Tuesday, while 10 voted against and 23 abstained.

The results of a draft resolution vote are seen on a screen as the UN General Assembly holds an emergency special session on the Israel-Hamas war at the United Nations headquarters on December 12.

The UN General Assembly voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in war-torn Gaza, in a rebuke to the United States which last week blocked a similar resolution in the smaller Security Council.

A majority of 153 nations voted for the ceasefire resolution in the General Assembly’s emergency special session Tuesday, while 10 voted against it and 23 abstained.

Tuesday’s brief resolution called for a ceasefire, for all parties to comply with international law, and for humanitarian access to hostages as well as their “immediate and unconditional” release. It notably contained stronger language than an October vote in the assembly that had called for a “sustained humanitarian truce.”

While a General Assembly vote is politically significant and is seen as wielding moral weight, it is not binding, unlike a Security Council resolution.

Israel, with staunch US backing, has rejected calls for a ceasefire, though it previously agreed to a seven-day truce for the release of hostages held in Gaza.

On Friday, the United States vetoed a ceasefire resolution in the UN Security Council, which had been approved by a majority of the powerful 15-member council.

The Israelis informed the US that they have begun “carefully testing out” flooding some of Gaza’s tunnels with seawater “on a limited basis” to test the ability to degrade the tunnel network on a larger scale, a US official told CNN on Tuesday.  

The Israelis are still unsure of whether it will work, the official said, but they assured the US that they are being careful to only test it in tunnels where they do not believe hostages are being held.

CNN has asked the IDF for comment. 

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office said it believes 135 hostages are still being held by Hamas, some of whom are believed to be US citizens. 

The Israeli military said earlier this month that it destroyed at least 500 tunnel shafts in Gaza and located more than 800 around the Palestinian enclave. The IDF said last week that many of the tunnel shafts “were located in civilian areas” and inside civilian structures. 

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. 

The scene outside the Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital on December 9.

There are barely “living conditions” for the people of the Gaza Strip, the emergency coordinator of operations for Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said Tuesday. 

People sheltering in hospitals in Gaza are living in “horrendous conditions” without access to health care, she said.

While Gazans traveled to hospitals in search of safety, Perreaut said, they know that “this is just not the case.” 

She described a lack of food and water, cold temperatures, overcrowding, and widespread diseases in hospitals, saying that the situation is “very, very tough.” 

Many people are suffering from respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, and skin diseases such as scabies, she said.

“All of these are clear illustrations of the extremely tough and precarious living conditions,” Perreaut said, adding that, since health care centers were ordered to evacuate, people “just don’t have access to health care anymore.” 

Half of the patients that MSF was treating were children under the age of five, she said. 

“All those children are still living in those conditions, facing multiple evacuation orders in the south, and now, just do not have access to health care on top of it,” Perreaut said.

Several hospitals in northern Gaza have ceased operations in recent weeks, saying they received orders from the Israeli military to evacuate. The Israeli military disputes issuing such an order. 

Fuel shortages have forced several hospitals in Gaza to close, while others have shut down due to airstrike damage, the World Health Organization has reported.  

The Israeli military says it only carries out operations in and around hospitals where they are being used by Hamas and other armed groups. 

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday that troops inside Gaza are operating deep underground.

“They are locating Hamas infrastructure and destroying it,” he said.

On a visit to a divisional headquarters in southern Israel, Gallant also said that the IDF located the two brothers of Ahmed Randor, the commander of Hamas’ Northern Brigade in Gaza who was killed. 

“After the IDF eliminated Randor, the Northern Gaza Brigade commander, his brothers surrendered and now they are providing information to the IDF and ISA,” Gallant said.

He went on to say that Hamas’ infrastructure in Gaza City and the northern area of the Gaza Strip was on the verge of collapsing. IDF operations were being conducted above and below ground, he said.

Separately, IDF spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the areas of Khan Younis in the south, as well as Jabalya and Shejaiya in the north, were the epicenters of the fighting.

The Israeli military arrested dozens of the medical staff at the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza on Tuesday, a senior doctor told CNN.

Dr Hossam Abu-Safia, head of pediatrics, said that the director was among those taken to an unknown destination.

Separately, the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health said the Israelis had detained the director, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot.

The situation was “very dangerous” and the bombing became more intense Tuesday around the hospital, Abu-Safia told CNN in a phone interview. Then the Israeli military arrived and asked for all men between the ages of 16 and 65 to leave the building to be searched. 

He and five other doctors had been allowed to stay in the hospital to look after the intensive care unit and premature babies. “They asked us to gather in only one section or building [and] close all the doors and windows, and not to be near doors or windows.”

Dr Abu-Safia said the hospital was without water or power. “We are working with primitive flashlights to follow up on the patients left in the hospital.”

He said displaced women, children and the elderly remained at the hospital.

Asked about the alleged arrests at the Kamal Adwan hospital, the Israeli military said it continues “to act against Hamas strongholds” in the north of Gaza, among them the area of Beit Lahia.

The military was taking precautions “to mitigate harm to non-combatants,” it said.

President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pose for photos before a meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 18.

Rifts between the United States and Israel spilled into public view Tuesday as President Joe Biden warned that Israel was losing international support for its campaign against Hamas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected American plans for post-war Gaza.

The divides, which until now had mostly been contained behind the scenes, reflected growing differences between the two staunch allies as the civilian death toll in Gaza mounts.

Speaking to Democratic donors in Washington, Biden voiced criticism of Israel’s hardline government and said Netanyahu needed to alter his approach.

“I think he has to change, and with this government, this government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move,” Biden said, calling Netanyahu’s government the “most conservative government in Israel’s history.”

He warned support for the country’s military campaign is waning amid heavy bombardment of Gaza and added that the Israeli government “doesn’t want a two-state solution.”

Speaking ahead of Biden’s comments at the fundraiser, Netanyahu admitted Tuesday that he and the US president disagree on what should happen to Gaza after the war. In a statement, the Israeli leader said: “Yes, there is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas’ and I hope that we will reach agreement here as well.”

The pair of remarks amounted to some of the most candid to date when it comes to the persistent differences between Israel and the United States, its top international ally.

Before the war broke out following Hamas’ terror attacks on October 7, Biden had been open in his criticism of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, which includes far-right parties. But he has mostly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Netanyahu in public since the conflict began, despite mounting criticism of the Israeli campaign.

Netanyahu has been asked repeatedly for his vision for a post-war Gaza in interviews with international media since October 7, telling CNN’s Dana Bash in an interview last month that he did see a role for “some kind of civilian Palestinian authority,” albeit one that had been “reconstructed.”

But in his statement Tuesday before Biden’s remarks at the Democratic fundraiser, Netanyahu said: “I would like to clarify my position: I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo.”

Read more about the Biden-Netanyahu comments.

Clarification: This post has been updated to include Biden’s full remarks regarding Netanyahu and the Israeli government.

Trucks are seen at Kerem Shalom on Tuesday, December 12.

Israeli authorities say that 197 humanitarian aid trucks were screened and transferred to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah Crossing on Tuesday.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that 117 trucks were inspected at Nitzana crossing and 80 at Kerem Shalom crossing. 

The Israeli government has forbidden aid to be transferred directly from Israeli crossing points into Gaza.

Earlier Tuesday, CNN reported that the United States is pressuring Israel to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing to allow humanitarian aid trucks to go directly into Gaza on an emergency basis, according to US officials.

A spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment on the US move.

Israel has so far resisted the idea. It cut off all commercial and humanitarian aid traffic from Israel into Gaza since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack on October 7 and has vowed to sever all ties with Gaza.

Col. Moshe Tetro, a top official at Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which coordinates the flow of aid into the strip, told CNN on Monday that allowing aid directly into Gaza from Kerem Shalom “is not on the table at the current time” and that it would require a “political” decision to change that.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond contributed reporting to this post.

The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza says the Israeli military has detained the director of Kamal Adwan hospital and taken him to an unknown destination outside the hospital.

CNN spoke to the hospital Director, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot, on Monday, but was unable to reach him again Tuesday.

The hospital is in northern Gaza and close to areas where there has been intense fighting. 

It claimed the Israelis had released five doctors, as well as women health personnel, but taken more than 70 health care staff out of the hospital to an unknown destination. The ministry also said Israeli forces have asked the remaining staff to gather all patients and staff in one building and evacuate the other buildings.

It said that in addition to medical personnel, there are 65 wounded and 12 sick children in childcare without electricity, water or food.

CNN is asking the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the claim that Dr Al-Kahlot and others were detained.

Members of the United Nations supervise as trucks loaded with aid and food enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing on November 15.

The United States is pressuring Israel to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing to allow humanitarian aid trucks to go directly into Gaza on an emergency basis, US officials told CNN.

The Israeli government on Tuesday allowed aid trucks to be inspected at Kerem Shalom for the first time since Hamas’s attack on October 7, but those trucks must still drive back through Egypt before entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing. While the move doubles Israel’s capacity to inspect aid trucks, it does not resolve the bottleneck that is emerging at the Rafah crossing. 

US President Joe Biden raised the issue directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their last call on Thursday, the US officials said. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also urged his Israeli counterparts to open up the Israel-Gaza crossing before he arrives in Israel for meetings on Thursday, the officials said.

A spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment on the US move.

Israel has so far resisted the idea. It cut off all commercial and humanitarian aid traffic from Israel into Gaza since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack on October 7 and has vowed to sever all ties with Gaza.

Col. Moshe Tetro, a top official at Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which coordinates the flow of aid into the Strip, told CNN on Monday that allowing aid directly into Gaza from Kerem Shalom “is not on the table at the current time” and that it would require a “political” decision to change that.

“We will see whether it is an option but at the current time we are talking only about doing the security clearance and inspection in Kerem Shalom Crossing,” Tetro added.

The Israeli government has told the US that it can increase the capacity for enough aid to cross into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, but a senior US official said the US has “definitively reached the conclusion that that is not the case.”

The US is making the case that the crossing should be opened to address an “emergency situation” for as long as there is a humanitarian need, the US officials said. 

Israel’s offensive in southern Gaza displaces hundreds of thousands more civilians and is driving an increasingly desperate humanitarian situation. Humanitarian aid officials say shelters in the south of the Strip, where civilians are being directed to flee, are overcrowded and under-resourced. 

The Israel Defense Forces released this image on Tuesday after announcing the bodies of two Israeli hostages had been recovered in Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the bodies of two Israeli hostages have been recovered in Gaza.

It named them as Eden Zecharya and Ziv Dado.

“During an operation in Gaza, the bodies of the hostages Eden Zecharya and [Sergeant Major] Ziv Dado were recovered by IDF Special Forces and brought back to Israel,” the IDF said in a statement Tuesday.

The Israeli military continued: “After an identification procedure carried out by medical officials and military rabbis together with the Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Israel Police, today (Tuesday) IDF and Israel Police representatives informed the families of Eden Zecharya and (SGM) Ziv Dado, who were taken hostage by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7th, that their bodies had been recovered and returned to Israel.”

Zecharya was taken hostage from the Re’im music festival and Dado was taken hostage and fell while serving in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, and until today was recognized as a fallen soldier in captivity, the IDF said.

It added that during the operations that enabled the location of the bodies, two IDF soldiers on reserve duty were killed and others injured.

The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum headquarters said Zecharya was 28 and filled with joy for life.

She had traveled to Re’im with her boyfriend, 23-year-old Ofek Kimchi. She spoke to her father on the phone and said they were under fire.

Kimchi was killed in the attack. Zecharya was kidnapped with injuries to the upper half of her body.

In her last phone call, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, she managed to ask her father to look after her two hunting dogs.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office has revised the number of hostages in Gaza to 135, in light of the announcement that the bodies of two hostages have been recovered from Gaza.