US Defense Secretary reiterates need to protect civilians in call with Israeli counterpart as potential ground invasion looms
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks to the media during a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on October 12. Johanna Geron/Reuters/FILE
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated “the importance of protecting civilians during the Israel Defense Forces’ operations” in a call Friday with the Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, according to a Pentagon readout.
Austin also emphasized the urgent need for “humanitarian aid delivery for civilians in Gaza” and for Hamas to release all hostages, the Pentagon said.
Austin's call comes as the Israel Defense Forces announced it is "expanding ground operations" in the Gaza Strip and "operating forcefully" on all fronts to fulfill its goals in the war with Hamas.
5 min ago
IDF says it cannot guarantee the safety of journalists reporting from Gaza
From CNN's Heather Law
A member of the press is seen among the destroyed buildings and debris after Israeli airstrikes in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on October 11. Abed Zagout/Anadolu/Getty Images
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told international news organizations that they cannot guarantee the safety of journalists reporting from Gaza, according to a Reuters report published Friday.
International news agencies Reuters and Agence France Presse (AFP) contacted the Israeli military this week for assurance their journalists on the ground in Gaza would not be targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
The IDF responded in a letter to both agencies saying they are "targeting all Hamas military activity throughout Gaza" and "[u]nder these circumstances, [they] cannot guarantee [their] employees' safety, and strongly urge [them] to take all necessary measures for their safety."
The letter also said Hamas deliberately put military operations "in the vicinity of journalists and civilians," Reuters wrote. Hamas did not immediately respond when asked if these allegations put forth by the IDF were true, Reuters said.
Reuters and AFP have both expressed concern over the safety of journalists in Gaza, Reuters stated.
“The situation on the ground is dire, and the IDF’s unwillingness to give assurances about the safety of our staff threatens their ability to deliver the news about this conflict without fear of being injured or killed," Reuters explained in a statement in response to the IDF's letter. "We are in an incredibly precarious position and it's important that the world understands that there is a large team of journalists working in extremely dangerous conditions," AFP Global News Director Phil Chetwynd said.
CNN is a client of Reuters and AFP, regularly using live and recorded video feeds from the news agencies.
5 min ago
UN aid agencies say they've lost contact with staff in Gaza
From CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, Kareem Khadder, and Jen Deaton
Several United Nations agencies report they have lost contact with their local staff in Gaza, as most of the communication capabilities of the enclave appear to have been interrupted.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the organization has lost touch with its staff as well as with its "health facilities, health workers and the rest of our humanitarian partners on the ground."
Lynn Hastings, the United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator in Palestine, also took to X to say that "Gaza has lost contact with the outside world amid reports of intensified bombardment."
The UN's Children's Fund executive director, Catherine Russell, said in a post on X that she is "extremely concerned" about her team in Gaza after losing touch with them.
"All humanitarians and the children and families they serve MUST be protected," Russell said.
Communications in Gaza have been severely disrupted in the past several hours as a result of airstrikes, the main Palestinian telecoms company says, although those with Israeli or eSIMs still have patchy connection.
6 min ago
Gaza is approaching a near total internet blackout
From CNN's Amy O'Kruk
Gaza is approaching a near total internet blackout as the region suffered its worst loss in connectivity today since fighting first broke out on October 7.
The last standing major internet operator in the region, Paltel, experienced damage to its international routes, according to NetBlocks, an internet outage monitoring firm based in London. Many Palestinians are experiencing a total loss of internet access and the ability to communicate electronically, according to the data, while some may have very little connectivity.
Jawwal, another Palestinian telecom company that provides mobile service to the Gaza Strip, also released a statement Friday, saying “the intense bombardment in the past hour has resulted in the destruction of all remaining international routes connecting Gaza with the outside world” leading to a “complete interruption of telecommunications services.”
Internet connections are likely to worsen as the Israel Defense Forces announced its "expanding ground operations."
Those with Israeli or international SIM cards are still reporting some internet access.
6 min ago
Israel rejects call for ceasefire approved by UN General Assembly
From CNN's David Shortell and Tara John
Smoke and explosions caused by Israeli bombardment are seen on the horizon in northern Gaza on October 28. Abed Khaled/AP
Israel is rejecting a call for a ceasefire in Gaza approved by the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, with the country's foreign minister calling it "despicable" in a post on social media.
“We reject outright the UN General Assembly despicable call for a ceasefire,” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Israel intends to eliminate Hamas just as the world dealt with the Nazis and ISIS.”
The UN General Assembly voted Friday to approve a resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the war between Israel and Hamas. A total of 120 countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 14 countries, including the US and Israel, voted against it. Another 45 countries abstained from the vote.
In a speech following the resolution’s passage, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said, “Today is a day that will go down in infamy. We have all witnessed that the UN no longer holds even one ounce of legitimacy or relevance.”
“The majority of the international community has shown that it prefers to support the defense of Nazi terrorists rather than support the law-abiding state of Israel to defend its civilians,” he said.
6 min ago
Exclusive: AI-assisted CNN analysis of satellite imagery shows new map of destruction across Gaza
From CNN's Paul P. Murphy and Renée Rigdon
A new, exclusive CNN analysis, aided by artificial intelligence (AI), has identified a significant amount of the destruction across Gaza in satellite imagery.
Large swaths of buildings around Gaza City, Beit Lahya and Beit Hanoun have been destroyed. A big amount of the damage that CNN was able to confirm is in northern Gaza.
Hundreds of craters across northern Gaza have also been identified.
CNN was able to identify the areas of destruction in Gaza through satellite imagery from Planet Labs, and by working with Synthetaic — a company that utilizes AI to identify and classify data, including satellite imagery.
Using imagery of the entire Gaza Strip from Planet Labs, Synthetaic is analyzing and comparing it through its proprietary AI-driven Rapid Automatic Image Categorization (RAIC) system, looking for destruction such as damaged and destroyed buildings, as well as impact craters. Aided by what RAIC identified as destruction, CNN is taking the Planet Labs imagery and conducting its own analysis to independently confirm the destruction.
The result is a snapshot of the destruction that's occurred across Gaza.
CNN's analysis is continuing, and is expected to identify other areas of destruction across Gaza, especially as the Israel Defense Forces continues to expand its ground operations there. It also differs from CNN’s previously analysis, which used Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar to determine damage.
A total, comprehensive map of the destruction in Gaza is impossible without an on-the-ground survey.
The Israel Defense Forces announced Friday it is "expanding ground operations" in the Gaza Strip and "operating forcefully" on all fronts to fulfill its goals in the war with Hamas. This comes as Gaza residents describe heavy airstrikes and as a major telecoms company says mobile phone service is completely down.
A substantial ground offensive has been expected ever since the Hamas October 7 attacks,but it is not yet clear whether the IDF announcement signals the start of it. Earlier Friday, Israel’s military conducted “targeted raids” for a second night in northern Gaza, after vowing to continue ground raids over the coming days.
Meanwhile, pressure is building on the international community to persuade Israel to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. While the initial aid deliveries have provided food, water and medicine, they have not included fuel, which the United Nations said is “paralyzing” its aid operations. Israel says Hamas is stockpiling fuel for its use and has called on the militant Palestinian group that governs Gaza to share it.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks to the media during a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on October 12. Johanna Geron/Reuters/FILE
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated “the importance of protecting civilians during the Israel Defense Forces’ operations” in a call Friday with the Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, according to a Pentagon readout.
Austin also emphasized the urgent need for “humanitarian aid delivery for civilians in Gaza” and for Hamas to release all hostages, the Pentagon said.
Austin's call comes as the Israel Defense Forces announced it is "expanding ground operations" in the Gaza Strip and "operating forcefully" on all fronts to fulfill its goals in the war with Hamas.
A member of the press is seen among the destroyed buildings and debris after Israeli airstrikes in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on October 11. Abed Zagout/Anadolu/Getty Images
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told international news organizations that they cannot guarantee the safety of journalists reporting from Gaza, according to a Reuters report published Friday.
International news agencies Reuters and Agence France Presse (AFP) contacted the Israeli military this week for assurance their journalists on the ground in Gaza would not be targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
The IDF responded in a letter to both agencies saying they are "targeting all Hamas military activity throughout Gaza" and "[u]nder these circumstances, [they] cannot guarantee [their] employees' safety, and strongly urge [them] to take all necessary measures for their safety."
The letter also said Hamas deliberately put military operations "in the vicinity of journalists and civilians," Reuters wrote. Hamas did not immediately respond when asked if these allegations put forth by the IDF were true, Reuters said.
Reuters and AFP have both expressed concern over the safety of journalists in Gaza, Reuters stated.
“The situation on the ground is dire, and the IDF’s unwillingness to give assurances about the safety of our staff threatens their ability to deliver the news about this conflict without fear of being injured or killed," Reuters explained in a statement in response to the IDF's letter. "We are in an incredibly precarious position and it's important that the world understands that there is a large team of journalists working in extremely dangerous conditions," AFP Global News Director Phil Chetwynd said.
CNN is a client of Reuters and AFP, regularly using live and recorded video feeds from the news agencies.
Several United Nations agencies report they have lost contact with their local staff in Gaza, as most of the communication capabilities of the enclave appear to have been interrupted.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the organization has lost touch with its staff as well as with its "health facilities, health workers and the rest of our humanitarian partners on the ground."
Lynn Hastings, the United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator in Palestine, also took to X to say that "Gaza has lost contact with the outside world amid reports of intensified bombardment."
The UN's Children's Fund executive director, Catherine Russell, said in a post on X that she is "extremely concerned" about her team in Gaza after losing touch with them.
"All humanitarians and the children and families they serve MUST be protected," Russell said.
Communications in Gaza have been severely disrupted in the past several hours as a result of airstrikes, the main Palestinian telecoms company says, although those with Israeli or eSIMs still have patchy connection.
Gaza is approaching a near total internet blackout as the region suffered its worst loss in connectivity today since fighting first broke out on October 7.
The last standing major internet operator in the region, Paltel, experienced damage to its international routes, according to NetBlocks, an internet outage monitoring firm based in London. Many Palestinians are experiencing a total loss of internet access and the ability to communicate electronically, according to the data, while some may have very little connectivity.
Jawwal, another Palestinian telecom company that provides mobile service to the Gaza Strip, also released a statement Friday, saying “the intense bombardment in the past hour has resulted in the destruction of all remaining international routes connecting Gaza with the outside world” leading to a “complete interruption of telecommunications services.”
Internet connections are likely to worsen as the Israel Defense Forces announced its "expanding ground operations."
Those with Israeli or international SIM cards are still reporting some internet access.
Smoke and explosions caused by Israeli bombardment are seen on the horizon in northern Gaza on October 28. Abed Khaled/AP
Israel is rejecting a call for a ceasefire in Gaza approved by the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, with the country's foreign minister calling it "despicable" in a post on social media.
“We reject outright the UN General Assembly despicable call for a ceasefire,” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Israel intends to eliminate Hamas just as the world dealt with the Nazis and ISIS.”
The UN General Assembly voted Friday to approve a resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the war between Israel and Hamas. A total of 120 countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 14 countries, including the US and Israel, voted against it. Another 45 countries abstained from the vote.
In a speech following the resolution’s passage, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said, “Today is a day that will go down in infamy. We have all witnessed that the UN no longer holds even one ounce of legitimacy or relevance.”
“The majority of the international community has shown that it prefers to support the defense of Nazi terrorists rather than support the law-abiding state of Israel to defend its civilians,” he said.
A new, exclusive CNN analysis, aided by artificial intelligence (AI), has identified a significant amount of the destruction across Gaza in satellite imagery.
Large swaths of buildings around Gaza City, Beit Lahya and Beit Hanoun have been destroyed. A big amount of the damage that CNN was able to confirm is in northern Gaza.
Hundreds of craters across northern Gaza have also been identified.
CNN was able to identify the areas of destruction in Gaza through satellite imagery from Planet Labs, and by working with Synthetaic — a company that utilizes AI to identify and classify data, including satellite imagery.
Using imagery of the entire Gaza Strip from Planet Labs, Synthetaic is analyzing and comparing it through its proprietary AI-driven Rapid Automatic Image Categorization (RAIC) system, looking for destruction such as damaged and destroyed buildings, as well as impact craters. Aided by what RAIC identified as destruction, CNN is taking the Planet Labs imagery and conducting its own analysis to independently confirm the destruction.
The result is a snapshot of the destruction that's occurred across Gaza.
CNN's analysis is continuing, and is expected to identify other areas of destruction across Gaza, especially as the Israel Defense Forces continues to expand its ground operations there. It also differs from CNN’s previously analysis, which used Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar to determine damage.
A total, comprehensive map of the destruction in Gaza is impossible without an on-the-ground survey.
