"Unimaginable loss" in Gaza as people struggle to survive. Here's the latest on Israel's war with Hamas
From CNN staff
The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate in Gaza as Israeli forces expand their operations throughout the Palestinian enclave.
Since Tuesday, the military has been operating in the southern city of Khan Younis, engaged in "intense battles" with Hamas fighters.
The conflict has caused "unimaginable loss, destruction and misery" and "everyone in Gaza is hungry," the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said.
Israel's security cabinet on Wednesday approved a "minimal" increase in the amount of fuel entering Gaza, but global leaders and aid groups say there needs to be much more assistance entering the enclave.
Here's what to know:
Hunger in Gaza: In northern Gaza, 97% of households have inadequate food consumption and approximately 83% in southern Gaza are "adopting extreme consumption strategies" to survive, the WFP said. The agency said a quarter of households reported burning waste as their main source of cooking fuel with the rest of households using firewood or wood rubbish. On average, households said they had less than half a gallon of safe drinking water per person per day in northern Gaza.
Emergency operations crippled: The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said work has stopped at its ambulance center in northern Gaza because there is no fuel.The PRCS also said bodies continue to be retrieved from the streets and from under rubble but recovery efforts are hampered because of the lack of fuel. Doctors Without Borders reported the number of corpses arriving at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza has now surpassed the number of injured.
Israeli military operations: Israeli forces have arrested and questioned hundreds of suspects in Gaza allegedly involved in terror activities, according to a military spokesperson. Meanwhile, images circulating on social media showed a mass detention of men who were made to strip to their underwear, kneel on the street, wear blindfolds and pack into the cargo bed of a military vehicle. At least some of the men are civilians with no known affiliation to militant groups, according to a conversation CNN had with one of their relatives and a statement by one of their employers, a news network.
Alleged Hamas launch site: The Israeli military released a satellite image and video it said showed Hamas rocket launches next to a “humanitarian zone” and UN facility in southern Gaza. Because the IDF satellite image of the rocket location is cropped, and the video is cropped and low resolution, it was not possible for CNN to corroborate its location.
Gaza death toll: At least 17,177 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7, a spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled health ministry said Thursday. Some 46,000 people have been injured, and the majority of wounded people are children, women, and the elderly, they added.
In and out of Gaza: At least 634 people crossed into Egypt on Thursday through the Rafah border crossing, officials said, including more than 400 dual nationals. A total of 70 aid trucks also entered Gaza, including nearly 21,000 gallons of fuel, according to the Rafah Crossing Authority. Meanwhile, Israel will open the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza soon for the inspection of aid trucks. The UN has been calling for several weeks for the crossing to be opened, saying it would facilitate deliveries of more vital humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Global voices: Talking with an Israeli official, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commended the fuel allowed into Gaza but said more humanitarian assistance is still needed, according to a State Department official. US President Joe Biden also reiterated to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the need for Israel to protect civilians, the White House said.
Journalist death investigation: Investigations by two news organizations and two human rights groups made public Thursday said Israeli tank shells killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists in southern Lebanon in October. Eylon Levy, a spokesperson for the Israeli government, said he was “not familiar” with the new reports, but reiterated Israel only targets Hamas, "we do not target civilians."
Regional strikes: Following the death of an Israeli civilian in northern Israel from an anti-tank missile from Lebanon, Israeli fighter jets struck “a series of terror targets” of Hezbollah on Thursday, the IDF said. Lebanon alleged that Israel shelled the outskirts of a town with "phosphorus" — a claim the IDF denies, saying it only uses "legal weapons and ammunition." The IDF also struck targets in Syria and Lebanon after missiles were reportedly launched toward Israel on Thursday evening.
54 min ago
Images from Gaza show Israeli soldiers detaining dozens of men stripped to underwear
From CNN's Abeer Salman in Jerusalem
Images from Gaza circulating on social media Thursday showed a mass detention by the Israeli military of men who were made to strip to their underwear, kneel on the street, wear blindfolds and pack into the cargo bed of a military vehicle. Obtained by CNN
Images from Gaza circulating on social media Thursday showed a mass detention by the Israeli military of men who were made to strip to their underwear, kneel on the street, wear blindfolds, and pack into the cargo bed of a military vehicle.
The exact circumstances and dates of the detentions are unclear, but some of the detainees’ identities were confirmed by colleagues or family members.
At least some of the men are civilians with no known affiliation to militant groups, according to a conversation CNN had with one of their relatives and a statement by one of their employers, a news network.
TheEuro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor posted an image of one detainment and said in a statement on its website Thursday that “the Israeli army detained and severely abused dozens of Palestinian civilians.”
“Euro-Med Monitor received reports that Israeli forces launched random and arbitrary arrest campaigns against displaced people, including doctors, academics, journalists, and elderly men,” it said.
The Israel Defense Forces has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the images. CNN has geo-located some of the images to Beit Lahia, north of Gaza City.
What to know about Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader Israel has called a "dead man walking"
From CNN's Ivana Kottasová and David Shortell
The Israeli prime minister said Wednesday that Israeli forces had surrounded the house of Yahya Sinwar, potentially closing in on the top Hamas official in Gaza — and the man most wanted by Israeli authorities.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sinwar was not in the house and was believed to be hiding underground in Gaza, but a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that it was “only a matter of time before we get him.”
Israelhas publicly accused Sinwar of being the “mastermind” behind Hamas’ terror attack against Israel on October 7 — though experts say he is likely one of several — making him one of the key targets of its war in Gaza.
A longtime figure in the Islamist Palestinian group, Sinwar was responsible for building up Hamas’ military wing before forging important new ties with regional Arab powers as the group’s civilian and political leader.
He was elected to Hamas’ main decision-making body, the Politburo, in 2017 as the political leader of Hamas in Gaza branch. However, he has since become the Politburo’s de facto leader, according to research by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
He has been designated a global terrorist by the US Department of State since 2015, and has been recently sanctioned by the United Kingdom and France.
Harel Chorev, senior researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, said that while Sinwar is a key player within Hamas, he shouldn’t be seen as its sole leader.
“He is perceived as the most senior one because he has a very high public profile, but Hamas doesn’t work this way,” he said. “Hamas is a decentralized organization with several separate power centers and he is one of them.”
Son of Israeli war cabinet minister killed in Gaza, IDF says
From CNN's Tamar Michaelis in Tel Aviv, Israel
Gal Meir Eisenkot, the son of Israeli government minister Gadi Eisenkot, has been killed in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Thursday.
Master Sgt. (Res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, a combat soldier in the 551st reserve commando Brigade’s 699th Battalion, died in battle, the IDF said in a statement.
His father was chief of the general staff of the IDF from February 2015 to January 2019, and served in the military for more than four decades.
Gadi Eisenkot joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime cabinet as minister without portfolio in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack.
He was elected to the Knesset in 2022 and is a member of Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party.
Gantz paid tribute to Gal Meir Eisenkot, saying in a statement: “May the memory of Gal and the memory of all those who fell in the battle for the home of all of us be blessed. Also in his name, also in their name, we continue the mission.”
Netanyahu also expressed his condolences to Gadi Eisenkot.
“The government of Israel and the citizens of Israel mourn together with you. Our heroes did not fall in vain. We will continue to fight until victory,” Netanyahu wrote on X.
A total of 88 IDF soldiers have been killed in Gaza since October 7.
4 hr 32 min ago
Hostages' desperate families plead with White House to secure release of their loved ones
Ruby Chen, whose 19-year-old reservist son Itay, has been missing since October 7, recently spoke with CNN just before midnight in Israel.
“This is the most difficult part of the day,” Chen said, because that is when he finally lets himself pause long enough to wonder: “How productive have I been in moving the release of my son an inch?”
For Iris Haggai Liniado, whose parents are believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas two months ago while they were on their morning walk, every meal can serve as a painful reminder of how little she knows about her mother and father’s whereabouts.
“Today I sat and ate dinner with my sister,” Haggai Liniado told CNN one evening this week. “I’m having this huge plate of food — and my mom is not eating at all. Or maybe eating rice. Or maybe not even alive.”
Not knowing whether her parents, Judih and Gadi Weinstein-Haggai, are even still alive — and if they are, how much suffering they may be enduring — has been torture, she said. “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemies. I wouldn’t wish this on Hamas who did all these things.”
Chen and Haggai Liniado are now among the families of the American hostages desperately calling on the Israeli government and the Biden White House, to do something — anything — to get their family members out of Hamas captivity.
There is "unimaginable loss, destruction and misery" in the Gaza Strip, the head of the World Food Programme said Thursday. "Everyone in Gaza is hungry," WFP chief Cindy McCain said.
Israel said it will open the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza for the inspection of aid trucks in the "next few days," a move welcomed by the United Nations, which said it would help the delivery of more vital humanitarian assistance.
US President Joe Biden reiterated the need for Israel to protect civilians in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, a White House readout said.
The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate in Gaza as Israeli forces expand their operations throughout the Palestinian enclave.
Since Tuesday, the military has been operating in the southern city of Khan Younis, engaged in "intense battles" with Hamas fighters.
The conflict has caused "unimaginable loss, destruction and misery" and "everyone in Gaza is hungry," the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said.
Israel's security cabinet on Wednesday approved a "minimal" increase in the amount of fuel entering Gaza, but global leaders and aid groups say there needs to be much more assistance entering the enclave.
Here's what to know:
Hunger in Gaza: In northern Gaza, 97% of households have inadequate food consumption and approximately 83% in southern Gaza are "adopting extreme consumption strategies" to survive, the WFP said. The agency said a quarter of households reported burning waste as their main source of cooking fuel with the rest of households using firewood or wood rubbish. On average, households said they had less than half a gallon of safe drinking water per person per day in northern Gaza.
Emergency operations crippled: The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said work has stopped at its ambulance center in northern Gaza because there is no fuel.The PRCS also said bodies continue to be retrieved from the streets and from under rubble but recovery efforts are hampered because of the lack of fuel. Doctors Without Borders reported the number of corpses arriving at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza has now surpassed the number of injured.
Israeli military operations: Israeli forces have arrested and questioned hundreds of suspects in Gaza allegedly involved in terror activities, according to a military spokesperson. Meanwhile, images circulating on social media showed a mass detention of men who were made to strip to their underwear, kneel on the street, wear blindfolds and pack into the cargo bed of a military vehicle. At least some of the men are civilians with no known affiliation to militant groups, according to a conversation CNN had with one of their relatives and a statement by one of their employers, a news network.
Alleged Hamas launch site: The Israeli military released a satellite image and video it said showed Hamas rocket launches next to a “humanitarian zone” and UN facility in southern Gaza. Because the IDF satellite image of the rocket location is cropped, and the video is cropped and low resolution, it was not possible for CNN to corroborate its location.
Gaza death toll: At least 17,177 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7, a spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled health ministry said Thursday. Some 46,000 people have been injured, and the majority of wounded people are children, women, and the elderly, they added.
In and out of Gaza: At least 634 people crossed into Egypt on Thursday through the Rafah border crossing, officials said, including more than 400 dual nationals. A total of 70 aid trucks also entered Gaza, including nearly 21,000 gallons of fuel, according to the Rafah Crossing Authority. Meanwhile, Israel will open the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza soon for the inspection of aid trucks. The UN has been calling for several weeks for the crossing to be opened, saying it would facilitate deliveries of more vital humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Global voices: Talking with an Israeli official, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commended the fuel allowed into Gaza but said more humanitarian assistance is still needed, according to a State Department official. US President Joe Biden also reiterated to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the need for Israel to protect civilians, the White House said.
Journalist death investigation: Investigations by two news organizations and two human rights groups made public Thursday said Israeli tank shells killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists in southern Lebanon in October. Eylon Levy, a spokesperson for the Israeli government, said he was “not familiar” with the new reports, but reiterated Israel only targets Hamas, "we do not target civilians."
Regional strikes: Following the death of an Israeli civilian in northern Israel from an anti-tank missile from Lebanon, Israeli fighter jets struck “a series of terror targets” of Hezbollah on Thursday, the IDF said. Lebanon alleged that Israel shelled the outskirts of a town with "phosphorus" — a claim the IDF denies, saying it only uses "legal weapons and ammunition." The IDF also struck targets in Syria and Lebanon after missiles were reportedly launched toward Israel on Thursday evening.
Images from Gaza circulating on social media Thursday showed a mass detention by the Israeli military of men who were made to strip to their underwear, kneel on the street, wear blindfolds and pack into the cargo bed of a military vehicle. Obtained by CNN
Images from Gaza circulating on social media Thursday showed a mass detention by the Israeli military of men who were made to strip to their underwear, kneel on the street, wear blindfolds, and pack into the cargo bed of a military vehicle.
The exact circumstances and dates of the detentions are unclear, but some of the detainees’ identities were confirmed by colleagues or family members.
At least some of the men are civilians with no known affiliation to militant groups, according to a conversation CNN had with one of their relatives and a statement by one of their employers, a news network.
TheEuro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor posted an image of one detainment and said in a statement on its website Thursday that “the Israeli army detained and severely abused dozens of Palestinian civilians.”
“Euro-Med Monitor received reports that Israeli forces launched random and arbitrary arrest campaigns against displaced people, including doctors, academics, journalists, and elderly men,” it said.
The Israel Defense Forces has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the images. CNN has geo-located some of the images to Beit Lahia, north of Gaza City.
The Israeli prime minister said Wednesday that Israeli forces had surrounded the house of Yahya Sinwar, potentially closing in on the top Hamas official in Gaza — and the man most wanted by Israeli authorities.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sinwar was not in the house and was believed to be hiding underground in Gaza, but a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that it was “only a matter of time before we get him.”
Israelhas publicly accused Sinwar of being the “mastermind” behind Hamas’ terror attack against Israel on October 7 — though experts say he is likely one of several — making him one of the key targets of its war in Gaza.
A longtime figure in the Islamist Palestinian group, Sinwar was responsible for building up Hamas’ military wing before forging important new ties with regional Arab powers as the group’s civilian and political leader.
He was elected to Hamas’ main decision-making body, the Politburo, in 2017 as the political leader of Hamas in Gaza branch. However, he has since become the Politburo’s de facto leader, according to research by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
He has been designated a global terrorist by the US Department of State since 2015, and has been recently sanctioned by the United Kingdom and France.
Harel Chorev, senior researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, said that while Sinwar is a key player within Hamas, he shouldn’t be seen as its sole leader.
“He is perceived as the most senior one because he has a very high public profile, but Hamas doesn’t work this way,” he said. “Hamas is a decentralized organization with several separate power centers and he is one of them.”
Gal Meir Eisenkot, the son of Israeli government minister Gadi Eisenkot, has been killed in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Thursday.
Master Sgt. (Res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, a combat soldier in the 551st reserve commando Brigade’s 699th Battalion, died in battle, the IDF said in a statement.
His father was chief of the general staff of the IDF from February 2015 to January 2019, and served in the military for more than four decades.
Gadi Eisenkot joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime cabinet as minister without portfolio in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack.
He was elected to the Knesset in 2022 and is a member of Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party.
Gantz paid tribute to Gal Meir Eisenkot, saying in a statement: “May the memory of Gal and the memory of all those who fell in the battle for the home of all of us be blessed. Also in his name, also in their name, we continue the mission.”
Netanyahu also expressed his condolences to Gadi Eisenkot.
“The government of Israel and the citizens of Israel mourn together with you. Our heroes did not fall in vain. We will continue to fight until victory,” Netanyahu wrote on X.
A total of 88 IDF soldiers have been killed in Gaza since October 7.
Ruby Chen, whose 19-year-old reservist son Itay, has been missing since October 7, recently spoke with CNN just before midnight in Israel.
“This is the most difficult part of the day,” Chen said, because that is when he finally lets himself pause long enough to wonder: “How productive have I been in moving the release of my son an inch?”
For Iris Haggai Liniado, whose parents are believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas two months ago while they were on their morning walk, every meal can serve as a painful reminder of how little she knows about her mother and father’s whereabouts.
“Today I sat and ate dinner with my sister,” Haggai Liniado told CNN one evening this week. “I’m having this huge plate of food — and my mom is not eating at all. Or maybe eating rice. Or maybe not even alive.”
Not knowing whether her parents, Judih and Gadi Weinstein-Haggai, are even still alive — and if they are, how much suffering they may be enduring — has been torture, she said. “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemies. I wouldn’t wish this on Hamas who did all these things.”
Chen and Haggai Liniado are now among the families of the American hostages desperately calling on the Israeli government and the Biden White House, to do something — anything — to get their family members out of Hamas captivity.
