December 9, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

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

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday discussed the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza with foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority, according to a statement shared by Trudeau's office. 

"The prime minister reiterated his condemnation of Hamas and its brutal attacks against Israel. He underscored that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people nor their legitimate aspirations. He also reiterated his call for the immediate release of all remaining hostages and stressed the need to ensure the safe exit of foreign nationals from Gaza," the statement said.

Trudeau also expressed support for Israel's "right to defend itself in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law, and emphasized the need to protect civilians."

The representatives also discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza with Trudeau reiterating Canada’s support for "the right of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, dignity, and security, without fear."

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has played a crucial role in the war between Israel and Hamas, acting as a "neutral intermediary" in coordinating the recent transfer of hostages back into Israel, as well as the return of Palestinians from Israeli detention.

Being in the line of fire is something the ICRC has faced for the past 160 years – being present at virtually every global conflict and crises, also responding to natural disasters like the recent earthquake in Afghanistan, which tore through the country killing thousands.

But the organization has also had to defend itself against criticism in the past week that it’s not been doing enough to help remaining hostages in Gaza.

Read our full profile piece about the world's oldest, and one of the most celebrated, humanitarian organizations.

The Israeli military has instructed residents of much of Khan Younis, the second-largest city in the Gaza Strip, to evacuate to the Al-Muwasi area, a strip of land with few facilities on the coast, as well as specified blocks shown on an IDF interactive map.

The Israel Defense Forces said:

"The general instruction for residents is to move to the Al-Muwasi area, as well as blocks updated in the IDF interactive map published last week.” The military was responding Saturday to a CNN inquiry about where people should go.

Earlier, the IDF issued what it called "an urgent appeal" for civilians to leave much of the area in and around Khan Younis where fierce fighting is underway.

In a post on ‘X,’ the IDF’s spokesperson for Arab media, Avichay Adraee, urged residents of the "neighborhoods of Al-Katiba, Al Mahatta, and the city center in Khan Younis Governorate” to evacuate.

 Adraee specified five blocks (47, 55, 104 – 106) on the map published by the IDF.

 “We call on you to leave where you are urgently and go toward known shelters west of Khan Younis,” he said.

It’s unclear how many people might be aware of the instruction given the lack of communications networks and internet availability in much of Gaza. It’s also unclear what shelters Adraee is referring to. CNN has reached out to the IDF for further clarification. 

Al-Muwasi is a strip of some 20 square kilometers on the coast. 

A statement last month by United Nations agencies and humanitarian groups such as Care International, Mercy Corps and the World Health Organization, said the area could not function as a safe zone until all sides pledged not to fight there.

Al-Muwasi is largely open land but has already seen an influx of people trying to escape from the fighting.

This post was updated with more details on the evacuation order.

Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said the US has not told Israel any deadline to complete military operations against Hamas in Gaza.

“They understand that they are not in a position to tell the IDF how long it needs in order to achieve the goals. The good thing is that they share the same goals. … It is correct to assume that we cannot measure this in weeks, and I’m not certain that it could be measured in months,” Hanegbi said.

CNN has previously reported that US officials expect Israel's operation targeting the southern end of the strip to last several weeks before it transitions, possibly by January, to a lower-intensity, hyper-localized strategy that narrowly targets specific Hamas militants and leaders, according to multiple senior administration officials. The White House is deeply concerned about how Israel’s operations will unfold over the next several weeks, a senior US administration official said. The US has warned Israel firmly in “hard” and “direct” conversations, the official said, that the Israeli Defense Forces cannot replicate the kind of devastating tactics it used in the north and must do more to limit civilian casualties.

Hanegbi added that he did not think Hamas leadership had expected the scope of Israel’s response to the attacks on October 7, in which some 1,200 people were killed.  

“I do not think that (Yahya) Sinwar (Hamas’ leader in Gaza) realized that the IDF will actually reach any point they want inside Gaza, (and) kill over 7,000 terrorists,” he said.

“This is the minimal estimate, it could be higher since we don’t know everything,” he added. “We are getting very close to the control and command centers of Hamas in Jabalia and Shejaiya, the strongholds of persistent resistance in the northern Gaza Strip. And in the south, we’re operating fiercely.” 

Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces issued what it called “an urgent appeal” for civilians to leave neighborhoods in the southern city of Khan Younis, as clashes continue in different parts of the strip. 

On the Houthi threat: Hanegbi said Israel is prepared to act against efforts by Houthi rebels in Yemen to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea, if the international community fails to do so.

Hanegbi told Israel’s Channel 12 Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden and European leaders about the Houthis targeting merchant ships with alleged Israeli links.

Netanyahu notified them that “Israel is giving the world some time to organize in order to prevent this. But if there isn’t be a global arrangement, because it is a global issue, we will act in order to remove this naval siege,” he said.

CNN reported this week that the US is considering beefing up protections for commercial ships around a vital Red Sea shipping route amid a series of recent missile attacks by the Iran-backed militants, according to military officials.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its teams received 100 aid trucks through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Saturday.

The trucks contain food, water, relief assistance, medical supplies and medicines, the group said. A total of 3,499 trucks have been received since October 21, it added.

Before Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, about 455 aid trucks were crossing into the area each day, according to the United Nations. 

A new process for inspecting aid trucks entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel is currently being tested, the United Nations’ World Food Programme Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau said in an interview with Reuters on Saturday. 

“We need Kerem Shalom to open,” Skau told Reuters, adding that the WFP on Friday was trying to use the crossing for the first time “for verification, but not for entry.” 

"We need that, also so that we can have more order around the UN convoys coming in, and to some degree separate them from the rest of the aid that is flowing in through Rafah," he said, adding the needs are "obviously massive."

Israeli Col. Elad Goren said Thursday at a press briefing that Israel will open the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza for the inspection of aid trucks in the “next few days.” 

Separately on Saturday, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Adele Khodr echoed calls for more aid to be allowed inside the enclave, calling the current delivery challenges "a death sentence" for children, with close to a million of them displaced.

The US is facing criticism after it vetoed a United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Friday that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

At least 97 other countries joined in the effort, co-sponsoring the United Arab Emirates-drafted bill. Thirteen UN Security Council member countries were in favor of the draft resolution while the US vetoed and the UK abstained. It was the sixth time the Security Council had tried to reach consensus.

Later Friday night, the US State Department transmitted an emergency declaration to lawmakers for the sale of thousands of munitions to Israel, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN. The move bypasses the standard 20-day period that congressional committees are typically afforded to review such a sale.

Meanwhile, heavy clashes continue between the Israeli military and Hamas in multiple areas of Gaza.

Here are other headlines you should know:

• More on the blocked draft resolution: In a video statement Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the US for its veto and vowed to continue in "our just war to dismantle Hamas." Hamas — as well as aid groups like Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, and Oxfam — decried the veto. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday the US was responsible for the "bloodshed" of civilians in the Gaza Strip. Russia also condemned the US, with its diplomat accusing Washington of being "complicit in Israel’s brutal massacre" in a statement to the council following the vote.
• Death toll: The Hamas-controlled health ministry reported that 17,700 people have now been killed and 48,780 others injured since October 7. Ministry spokesperson Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra said 210 bodies had arrived at hospitals, and he claimed there had been many casualties in an Israeli attack on a school in northern Gaza. He also said that Israeli forces continue to surround Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospitals in northern Gaza. He also claimed two health care personnel at Al-Awda had been shot and killed. CNN cannot verify the claims made by Al-Qudra.
• Developments on the ground: Clashes between the Israeli military and Hamas have continued in multiple parts of the Gaza Strip. Amid fierce fighting in and around the south Gazan city of Khan Younis, the Israel Defense Forces issued what it called “an urgent appeal” for civilians to leave much of the area. Shelling near the Al-Amal Hospital and the premises of the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis continued Saturday morning, according to the PRCS. Elsewhere, there were chaotic scenes early Saturday morning at a building in the district of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza following two large explosions, according to CNN video and residents’ testimonies. The Israeli military is apprehending military-aged men in northern Gaza to “work out who the terrorists are,” an Israeli government spokesperson told CNN on Friday.
• Hostage death: An Israeli hostage held in Gaza, 25-year-old Sahar Baruch, has been killed, the kibbutz where he lived announced Saturday. It is unclear how he died. At least 136 hostages are still being held in Gaza, the IDF said on December 1. IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the number includes 17 women and children. Separately, the IDF announced on Saturday that four more of its soldiers have been killed in battles inside the Gaza Strip, bringing the total to 96.
• Mosques damaged: Two of the oldest mosques in Gaza City appear to have suffered extensive damage following airstrikes earlier this week, according to authorities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
• Evacuations: More than 1,000 Russian nationals have so far been evacuated from Gaza, as another 100 Russians and members of their families crossed the Rafah checkpoint into Egypt on Saturday, Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a post on social media.

There were chaotic scenes early Saturday morning at a building in the district of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza following two large explosions, according to CNN video and residents’ testimonies. The residents said the building had been hit by air strikes.

Residents said around 150 people were thought to be taking shelter in the building. Some had been displaced from areas further north.

The video showed people clearing the rubble, in a frantic effort to look for those who might be trapped. Many others can be seen waiting nearby, some in tears.

CNN cannot independently confirm the exact street where the video was shot and at what time the blasts occurred.

According to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, at least eight people were killed and dozens were injured. CNN cannot independently verify the numbers.

One man said he had arrived there after being displaced from the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. He said he was with his brother when he heard the strikes.

"The house beside us fell on us. I don't know how I managed to get out from under the rubble. I was thinking about what food I would bring for my children today. Please, people of the world, enough! This is not life. We are human beings," the man said.

A woman at the scene said poor people pay the price for the conflict. 

“It’s the people who bear the brunt. The people are lost," she said, adding that there was "no aid whatsoever."

"We don’t know to whom the aid goes. Hungry people stopped the convoys to steal, because they are hungry. Yet, they set up barriers, and take the food from the people. What should people do, where should they go?" she said.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on operations in the area. Deir al-Balah has seen multiple airstrikes since the end of the truce with Hamas just over a week ago.