December 29, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel's war in Gaza has moved here.

Dispatch of aid into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing has resumed after it was suspended for several days due to “security incidents,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday.

A total of 81 trucks carrying food and medicine entered Gaza on Friday through both the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel and the Rafah crossing from Egypt, the UN agency reported.

But OCHA also warned the volume of aid entering the ravaged Palestinian enclave “remains woefully inadequate.” Before October 7, the UN reported an average daily delivery of 455 trucks carrying commercial goods into Gaza.

Some background: The Kerem Shalom crossing was closed from December 25 to 28 due to "security incidents" that had been reported in its vicinity since it was opened on December 17, according to OCHA.

Those incidents included a deadly drone strike on December 25, the seizing of aid from food convoys by desperate local communities and “unannounced and uncoordinated prisoner and casualty transfers from Israel which rendered the crossing unusable for hours at a time,” the agency said.

Earlier on Friday, Tal Heinrich, spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister, said the UN requested the closure of the crossing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday “for aid inspections, due to congestion on the Gaza side.”

Heinrich also insisted that Israel was not limiting the amount of humanitarian aid that can enter the enclave, saying that suggesting otherwise is a “fallacy.”

The United Nations relief chief Martin Griffiths issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter) Friday condemning a UN aid convoy being fired upon the previous day in Gaza. 

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza has said the convoy was fired on by Israeli soldiers, according to the organization's director Thomas White.

The Israeli military told CNN it is investigating the incident.

"We never, ever intentionally fire on a humanitarian organization," Israeli military spokesperson Doron Spielman told CNN on Friday. "If this was a mistake and if this is verified, we will come forth and say it.”

The convoy was made up of seven UN vehicles, including two armored vehicles, with their exteriors marked with the letters “UN,” UNRWA Communications Director Juliette Touma told CNN on Friday.

Touma also said the convoy had been asked to change its route.

It is not yet clear why the convoy was asked to make the change, and how much time elapsed between the reported request to change the convoy’s route and the reported firing by Israeli soldiers.

The chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is urging media organizations to verify information, including from government officials, before publishing.

In a statement Friday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini responded to claims from Israeli officials blaming UNRWA for aid delivery gaps in Gaza. 

“Over the past days, several statements from Israeli officials have insinuated or directly held UNRWA responsible for gaps in aid deliveries in the Gaza Strip," Lazzarini said. "These statements were amplified by Israeli and other mainstream and social media, creating a stream of baseless misinformation."

On Friday, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy accused UNRWA of covering up for Hamas' alleged hijacking of aid in Gaza, describing the UN's aid mechanism as "woefully unsuccessful." 

Earlier in December, Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) appeared to blame the UN for aid delay, saying it "must do better." 

Lazzarini said even after the opening of Kerem Shalom border crossing for aid delivery, Israeli authorities have severely restricted humanitarian access through constant bombardment, regular disruptions of phone and internet services, long delays at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings as well as restricted access to the northern part of the strip.

“I call on the Israeli Authorities, other parties to the conflict and those with influence over them to safeguard an environment for safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid," Lazzarini said. “This is not the time to exchange accusations and promote misinformation."

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it is very concerned over the spread of infectious diseases in Gaza as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain displaced, with many in overcrowded shelters and health facilities.

In a statement Friday, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the following diseases and conditions were documented in shelters across the strip from mid-October to mid-December:

• About 180,000 cases of upper respiratory infections
• 136,400 cases of diarrhea — half among children under 5 years old
• 55,400 cases of lice and scabies
• 5,330 cases of chickenpox
• 42,700 cases of skin rash
• 4,683 cases of Acute Jaundice Syndrome
• 126 cases of meningitis

"WHO and partners are working tirelessly to support the health authorities to increase disease surveillance and control by supplying medicines, testing kits to support prompt detection and response to infectious diseases such as hepatitis, and trying to improve access to safe water, food, hygiene and sanitation services," the statement read. 

So far, 1.9 million Palestinians, constituting around 85% of Gaza's population, have been displaced since October 7, according to UNRWA. 

Meanwhile, only 13 out of 36 hospitals remain partially functioning across Gaza, with another two minimally functioning, the WHO said in a statement Wednesday. 

South Africa has filed an application at the International Court of Justice to begin proceedings over allegations of genocide against Israel for its war against Hamas in Gaza, the court said.

In its application, South Africa accuses Israel of being “in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention” and that “acts and omissions by Israel ... are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent ... to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group,” the ICJ said in a statement.

Israel, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, rejected South Africa’s claims and application to the World Court, saying South Africa "is calling for the destruction of the State of Israel," and that its "claim lacks both a factual and a legal basis."

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed South Africa's move to begin proceedings over the genocide allegations.

"The Court must immediately take action to protect the Palestinian people and call on Israel, the occupying Power, to halt its onslaught against the Palestinian people, in order to ensure an objective legal resolution," the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement Friday. 
"The existence of the Palestinian people is under unprecedented threat as we are facing a moral and legal catastrophe of enormous proportions undermining our shared humanity and the essence of the multilateral order," the statement read.

Some background: South Africa and Israel are both parties to the Genocide Convention, according to the ICJ, which is also known as the World Court and is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

The role of the International Court of Justice is to handle disputes between member states, whereas the International Criminal Court tries individuals.

This post has been updated with comments from the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Israel's military said it was “extending operations” and dismantling Hamas infrastructure in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza on Friday, while also claiming to have destroyed a network of tunnels near Gaza City along with one of the “hideout apartments” belonging to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

While the Israel Defense Forces reported its progress on the ground, officials with the United Nations are again raising the alarm about the consequences for Gaza's civilians.

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said in a post on X Thursday that over 150,000 people “have nowhere to go” after the latest IDF warning to evacuate large portions of central Gaza.

Even civilians who have reached shelters have not always been able to escape harm. The UNRWA said Friday that at least 308 people taking refuge in its shelters had been killed — and at least 1,095 others wounded — since the most recent fighting began in the enclave on October 7.

And, the UN relief chief on Thursday described the frustrations of getting aid into the enclave, where an acute hunger crisis is impacting millions. UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths described “constant bombardments. Poor communications. Damaged roads. Convoys shot at. Delays at checkpoints." He added that "this is an impossible situation for people of Gaza and those trying to help them.”

Here are some of the other key updates Friday:

• More from Israel's ground operations: In Khan Younis, the IDF said its troops fought Hamas using aerial strikes, snipers and tank fire over the past day. In Gaza City, the discovery of Sinwar's "hideout" was part of a network of tunnels located and destroyed "in recent weeks," the IDF said Friday. Israeli officials claim the "long and branching" tunnel system was used by senior Hamas officials. CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s claims.
• Israel faces potential case in international court: South Africa has filed an application at the International Court of Justice to begin proceedings over allegations of genocide against Israel for its war against Hamas in Gaza, the court said. Israel has rejected South Africa’s claims, saying the country "is calling for the destruction of the State of Israel," and that its "claim lacks both a factual and a legal basis." Israel also faced renewed condemnation from the United Arab Emirates Friday, with the country's ambassador to the UN calling Israel's defense declarations and stated aims in the war against Hamas a "fallacy."
• 35 killed in Israeli strikes, mostly women and children: Thirty-five Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded after Israeli airstrikes struck residential buildings in central Gaza overnight, Dr. Khalil Al-Dikran, head of nursing at the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, told CNN Friday. Most of the dead and wounded were women and children, and many were dismembered, he said.
• IDF accepts "unintended harm" to civilians in airstrike that killed 70: The IDF has acknowledged there was what it calls “unintended harm” to civilians as a result of airstrikes in central Gaza on December 24. The strikes were against targets in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp. About 70 people were killed in the strikes, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

The Biden administration bypassed Congress to approve a nearly $150 million sale of military equipment to Israel for the second time this month.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Congress that he has made an emergency determination to immediately approve the transfer of "155mm ancillary items including fuzes, charges, and primers that make 155mm shells functional," a State Department spokesperson said Friday.

"Given the urgency of Israel’s defensive needs, the Secretary notified Congress that he had exercised his delegated authority to determine an emergency existed necessitating the immediate approval of the transfer," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the additional items were added to previous sales, which "increased the total value of the sale to $147.5 million."

Earlier this month, the administration rushed forward a sale of thousands of munitions to Israel, bypassing the standard 20-day period that congressional committees are typically afforded to review such a sale. The State Department sent an emergency declaration to the oversight committees that more than 13,000 tank shells would be delivered to Israel without any “further information, details or assurances.”

“We continue to be clear with the government of Israel that they must comply with [international humanitarian law] and must take every feasible step to avoid harm to civilians," a State Department spokesperson said at the time.

The $106 million transaction was part of a larger request to sell a total of 45,000 tank shells to Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces claimed Friday to have destroyed a network of tunnels and one of the “hideout apartments” belonging to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza. 

The IDF’s 14th Reserve Brigade Combat Team located and destroyed the apartment near Gaza City “in recent weeks,” the IDF said. 

The IDF said the apartment was part of “a long and branching tunnel network” that was used by senior Hamas officials. During an inspection of the apartment, soldiers with the IDF’s Yahalom Unit discovered a 20-meter-deep (about 66 feet) tunnel shaft in the basement floor. The shaft led to a 218-meter-long (about 715 feet) tunnel that contained an electrical network, ventilation and sewage infrastructure, as well as prayer rooms, the IDF said. 

“The tunnel was built so that it would be possible to stay inside it and conduct combat from it for long periods of time,” the IDF said in a news release.

The tunnel was subsequently destroyed by the IDF’s Yahalom Unit.

CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s claims. 

Some background: Earlier in December, Israeli forces said they had surrounded Sinwar's house. The 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 that it was “only a matter of time before we get him.”

Israel has 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.

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.