December 16, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

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

The Israel Defense Forces says an ambulance was dispatched to help Al Jazeera journalist Samer Abu Daqqa after he was badly injured during an Israeli attack in southern Gaza Friday, but it “encountered road damage” and couldn’t get to the scene before the cameraman died.

"Once we became aware of an injured individual and received a request to grant permission for an ambulance, COGAT granted permission for the ambulance to use a safe passage,” they said in a statement to CNN in response our reporting.

COGAT is Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. 

“However, the ambulance chose a different route, which encountered road damage. The IDF promptly responded by sending a bulldozer to assist in repairing the pathway for the ambulance. Unfortunately, by the time these efforts were completed, it was already too late," the statement says.

He died of wounds sustained in the Israeli attack and was forced to wait five hours for medical attention, the Qatar-based news network said in a statement to CNN Friday. 

The IDF said it was unable to provide additional detail when asked by CNN how long it took for the ambulance to be granted permission to travel to the site where Abu Daqqa required emergency medical assistance.

Hundreds gathered in southern Gaza to mourn Abu Daqqa on Saturday as his body was laid to rest.

Al Jazeera has instructed its legal team to begin the process of referring the killing of its cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa in Gaza to the International Criminal Court, the Qatar-based network said in a statement.

“On Saturday, December 16, 2023, the network established a joint working group, which comprises of its international legal team and international legal experts who will collaboratively initiate the process of compiling a comprehensive file for submission to the court's prosecutor,” Al Jazeera said.

Abu Daqqa died on Friday after being wounded in an Israeli attack. 

The network has condemned Israel for his death, calling it an “assassination.”

Al Jazeera also said that its legal file to the ICC would encompass what it called “recurrent attacks on the network’s crews working and operating in the occupied Palestinian territories and instances of incitement against them.”

The ICC has previously been asked to probe Israel's actions in the region.

Last month, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said his office received a referral from five countries to investigate if crimes have been committed in the Palestinian territories as part of Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.

Israel is not a member of the ICC and rejects the court’s jurisdiction.

Responding to a request for comment from CNN on Al Jazeera’s claim, the press office for the IDF said: “The IDF takes all operationally feasible measures to protect both civilians and journalists.

“The IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists. Given the ongoing exchanges of fire, remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks. The IDF will continue to counter threats while persisting to mitigate harm to civilians.”

Israel’s military did not have intelligence about the three hostages mistakenly killed by its soldiers Friday, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari told a news conference Saturday.

Hagari reiterated the Israel Defense Forces assumed the three hostages had either escaped or been abandoned by their captors due to the fighting in Shejaiya.

He added that soldiers in general thought they would find hostages either in a building, in a tunnel, or handcuffed, and didn’t anticipate that they would be approached.

Hagari said the military has published details of its preliminary review of the incident. Those findings have been relayed to combat troops in Gaza as well as the families of the three hostages killed.

CNN is working to obtain a copy of the initial review.

“We will continue to investigate this incident thoroughly,” he said. “We are in the midst of a war that presents us with very difficult and complex situations with unprecedented characteristics that we have not faced until now.”

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday told his nation that "we are in a war for our existence." Speaking for the first time since the Israeli military mistakenly shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza, he said the war would go on.

"The war must continue until victory, despite the international pressure and despite the unbearable cost that the war is exacting from us in our fallen sons and daughters," Netanyahu said.

The prime minister also on Saturday appeared to suggest that new negotiations were underway to rescue Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. He said the Israeli military's continued use of force in Gaza was necessary to both bring the hostages back and win the war.

Here are other headlines you should know:

• Killed hostages: The Israel Defense Forces said Friday it accidentally killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza after misidentifying them as a threat. The hostages were shirtless and waving a white flag when they were shot, according to an IDF official. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has taken responsibility for the deaths. He said the IDF has completed a preliminary investigation of the incident and has updated the families of the killed hostages on their findings. Also, Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Saturday said he held "painful conversations" with the families hostages.
• Another hostage dead: 27-year-old Inbar Haiman has died while in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office and the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum. She was from the city of Haifa, the forum said in a statement Saturday.
• Developments on the ground: An IDF sniper shot and killed two women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza on Saturday, according to a statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees Catholic churches across Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Elsewhere, an Israeli soldier was killed and two others were wounded in a drone attack that hit Israeli troops in the Margaliot area near the Lebanese border on Saturday, the Israeli army said.
• Official meetings: Commander of the US Central Command Gen. Michael Kurilla on Friday visited Israel to meet with Halevi, according to an Israeli military statement Saturday. In his third such trip since the start of Israel-Hamas war, Kurilla and Halevi discussed security and strategic matters, plus humanitarian assistance, the IDF said. Gallant also held a meeting Saturday with military and intelligence chiefs "focused on efforts to return the hostages held in a Gaza," according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. 
• Red Sea developments: The CMA CGM Group, the third-largest shipping company in the world, has instructed all of its container ships in the Red Sea region to pause their journeys following a string of attacks from Iran-backed Houthis on commercial ships in the sea.
• US government staffers call for ceasefire: More than 130 US Department of Homeland Security staff members urged President Joe Biden's administration to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in a letter addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last month and now obtained by CNN. 

This post has been updated to include a verified translation of Netanyahu's speech.

An Israeli Defense Forces sniper shot and killed two women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza on Saturday, according to a statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees Catholic churches across Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

The majority of Christian families inside Gaza have taken refuge inside the parish since the start of the war, the statement added. 

The two women, described as a mother and daughter, were walking to the convent, and "one was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety," it said. Seven others were shot and wounded in the attack.

"No warning was given, no notification was provided. They were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the Parish, where there are no belligerents," the statement continued.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said that Israel Defense Forces tanks also targeted the Convent of the Sisters of Mother Teresa, which is housing 54 disabled persons and is part of the church's compound. The building's generator — which is the only current source of electricity — and its fuel resources, solar panels, and water tanks have been destroyed, it said, and IDF rockets have made the convent "uninhabitable." 

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

On Friday, UK lawmaker Layla Moran said her family members sheltering in in the church are “beyond desperate and terrified” as conditions continue to worsen. 

“(My family is) reporting white phosphorous and gunfire into their compound,” she said. “The bin collector and the janitor have been shot and their bodies are laying outside and remain uncollected.”

CNN cannot independently verify the conditions in and around the church, nor the allegation of the use of incendiary munitions, which can be illegal in some circumstances.

Citing her family members, the Oxford West and Abingdon member of parliament added that electricity generators have stopped working at the church.

On November 15, Moran told the UK House of Commons that one of her family members sheltering in the church had died.

CNN's Kareem El Damanhoury contributed to this report.

Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Saturday said he held painful conversations with the families of the three Israeli hostages mistakenly shot and killed by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza.

"I heard their pain — these were charged, painful conversations. They were difficult first and foremost for the families, but also difficult for me, personally," Gallant said.

Gallant said as defense minister he bears responsibility for everything that happens during this war.

"This was also the case during yesterday’s event – an incident that IDF troops did not intend to conduct, yet one that took place as a result of significant errors," he said.

Gallant called the incident "one of the most tragic and difficult events I can remember."

The defense minister asked Israelis to maintain their support of the IDF soldiers operating in Gaza.

"They have taken impressive actions and made great achievements, while risking their lives. We must stand by them," he said.

Gallant also met Saturday with military and intelligence chiefs about ongoing efforts to return the hostages still held in Gaza, according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's office. 

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to suggest on Saturday that new negotiations were underway to rescue Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

Netanyahu said the Israeli military's continued use of force in Gaza was necessary to both bring the hostages back and win the war.

"Without the military pressure, we wouldn’t have reached a framework to release 110 hostages, and only ongoing military pressure would lead to the release of all our hostages," he said, referring to the exchanges of Hamas captives for Palestinian detainees that took place during last month's truce. "The instruction I give to our negotiating team is based on that pressure. And without it, we don’t have anything."

David Barnea, the director of Israel's intelligence service Mossad, was expected to meet at the end of the week with Qatar’s prime minister in Europe to continue discussions about getting hostages released by Hamas, a source familiar with the plans told CNN Saturday.

It was not immediately clear whether the meeting had happened yet.

Netanyahu did not confirm any details about the expected meeting during the televised press conference.

An Israeli soldier was killed and two others were wounded in a drone attack that hit Israeli troops in the Margaliot area near the Lebanese border on Saturday, the Israeli army said.

Two unmanned aerial vehicles were launched from Lebanese territory: one was intercepted, while the other hit Israel Defense Forces soldiers, army spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in an evening briefing.

In response, Hagari said Israeli warplanes struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

“We will continue striking Hezbollah targets with great force in response to any hostile activity against Israel," Hagari said.

Early Saturday, Hezbollah claimed on social media they targeted an Israeli military post at the same location using a drone, saying the attack was "in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."

According to a CNN tally, at least six Israeli soldiers have been killed since Hezbollah started their scaled up attacks from south Lebanon on October 8.

Remember: This fighting is centered on northern Israel and southern Lebanon — separate from Israel's battles with Hamas in Gaza. But an uptick in clashes with Hezbollah during the ongoing war has raised fears that the powerful Lebanese paramilitary group could actively participate in the conflict.

Hezbollah is among several Iran-backed proxy groups that factor into the heightened regional tensions.