December 3, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

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

Israel's top domestic security official Ronen Bar said Israel is determined to eliminate Hamas all around the world even if it takes years, according to a recording aired by Israel's public broadcaster Kan on Sunday.

Bar is the director of the Israeli Security Agency, also known as Shin Bet which is Israel’s domestic security agency, tasked with combating terrorism.

Bar's mention of Munich is a reference to Israel's targeted assassination campaign against Black September operatives and organizers, following the Palestinian terrorist group's deadly attacks against Israelis at the 1972 Olympics in the German city.

"It will take a few years, but we will be there to do it. The security responsibility is ours. Our duty is to provide both security and a sense of security," he said, adding, "Unfortunately, on October 7 we were unable to do it. I think we are on the rise. We are not waiting. We are already drawing our lessons from the events."

Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday and discussed the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories, emphasizing the need for de-escalation and a ceasefire, the country’s state news agency said.

The prime minister reaffirmed Qatar's commitment, alongside its mediation partners, to ongoing efforts aimed at restoring calm to the region. Last month, Qatar brokered a deal between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the United States, to release foreign nationals and critically injured Palestinian civilians from Gaza to Egypt, according to sources familiar with the talks.

On Sunday, the prime minister expressed concern that the continuation of bombings in the Gaza Strip after that humanitarian pause complicates mediation endeavors and worsens the humanitarian crisis.

Al-Thani conveyed Qatar's unwavering condemnation of all forms of targeting civilians, particularly women and children, emphasizing that actions such as these, including the policy of collective punishment, are unacceptable under any circumstances.

According to the statement, the prime minister underscored the urgent requirement for opening humanitarian corridors to ensure the safe passage of relief and aid to Palestinians affected by the ongoing conflict.

Israel has "eliminated" the commander of Hamas' Shati Battalion in an airstrike by a fighter jet on Sunday, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari in a Sunday press conference.

The commander was responsible for carrying out raids into Israeli territory in the October 7 attack, Hagari said.

"Following IDF and ISA intelligence, an IDF fighter jet struck and killed Haitham Khuwajari, the Commander of Hamas’ Shati Battalion. Under his command, Hamas terrorists carried out raids into Israeli territory on October 7th during the invasion and massacre in southern Israel," a joint statement from the IDF and the Israel Security Agency that followed the press conference read.

The statement also said Khuwajarai "was in command of Hamas' forces fighting against IDF soldiers in the Shati area."

The IDF took control of Al-Shati refugee camp located in the northern Gaza strip in mid-November. 

Israel's military says they will "continue to pursue the site and eliminate each of the commanders who command the area under their control as [the IDF] did yesterday in the Sajaya Battalion."

Israel is expanding its ground operations to the whole of the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday.

"The IDF is resuming and expanding the ground operation against Hamas’ strongholds across the whole Gaza Strip," IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a news conference Sunday.

Hagari also underlined "the importance of air assistance provided by the Air Force to ground forces," saying airstrikes against terror headquarters, weapons manufacturing facilities, terror tunnels, and rocket launching sites limit the threats posed against the ground operation.

"Our policy is clear — we will forcefully strike any threat posed against our territory," he added. 

Renewed strikes hit the Jabalya refugee camp on Sunday, as seen in verified videos from the scene as well as in reporting by the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa. 

The CNN-obtained video shows huge plumes of smoke filling the skyline after the Sunday strike.  

A separate video released by Reuters news agency shows two tearful young boys searching frantically through the rubble for their father and brother, missing after the airstrike.

"My father's been killed," cries this boy after a strike on the Jabalya refugee camp Sunday.

Israel also targeted Jabalya on Saturday, killing prominent Palestinian scientist Sufyan Tayeh, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.  

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

On both Saturday and Sunday, Israel issued online warnings saying the military had resumed "working forcefully against Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip."  IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X, "To the residents of Jabalia, Al-Shuja’iya, Al-Zaytoun, and the Old City of Gaza - in order to preserve your safety, we call on you to evacuate your homes immediately."

It is unknown if residents in Jabalya camp have internet access to see the warnings from the IDF. 

More than 850 dual nationals crossed the border from Gaza into Egypt on Saturday and Sunday, through the Rafah border crossing, according to an Egyptian official at the border. 

Of the 871 who crossed into Egypt, the Palestinian dual nationals included 17 American citizens and 130 Turkish citizens.

They also included dual nationals of Egypt, South Africa, Germany, Canada, Australia and Denmark, the official told CNN. 

An additional 13 wounded Palestinians were also evacuated through the Rafah border crossing this weekend to receive medical care in Egypt, an official at the border said. 

The official added that an aid convoy also crossed into Gaza.  

The Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza said it received 100 humanitarian aid trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent on Sunday. 

The trucks passed through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. The aid convoy contains food, water, relief assistance, medical supplies and medicines. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told civilians to leave large swaths of the Gaza Strip, including number of neighborhoods in southern parts of the enclave, after it resumed its military offensive there.

Earlier on Sunday, the IDF told people to evacuate several areas southeast of Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza where many have looked for shelter in recent weeks. 

The IDF told people to move further south.

“For your safety, we invite you to move to the well-known IDP shelters in the neighborhoods of Al-Fukhari, Al-Shaboura, Al-Zuhur, and Tal Al-Sultan,” the IDF said in a statement published on social media in Arabic. `

It is not clear how many people in Gaza have access to social media because electricity and internet access are unreliable due to the war. 

Later on Sunday, the IDF also instructed people to leave some areas in northern Gaza, including Jabalya, Shejaiya, Zaytoun and the Old City of Gaza. Many of the areas have been previously targeted by heavy IDF strikes. 

The IDF released a new map of Gaza on Friday, dividing the strip of land into hundreds of numbered sectors that it called “evacuation zones.”

It said it would use the map to advise people to evacuate civilian areas where it says Hamas has placed military infrastructure.

The IDF also dropped leaflets in areas of southern Gaza which included a QR code that connects to the map when scanned — if users have internet access, which is very spotty in Gaza.

CNN’s attempts to contact people in Khan Younis to ask if they had seen the map were unsuccessful on Saturday and Sunday due to the poor communication links. 

The UN estimates that up to 1.8 million people in Gaza, or nearly 80 percent of the population, are internally displaced, having already had to leave their homes.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says fighter jets and helicopters struck targets in the Gaza Strip overnight, including tunnel shafts, command centers and weapons storage facilities. 

Hamas militants were targeted and killed by an IDF drone operating on the direction of ground troops, the military said.

Meanwhile, the US has stepped up pressure on Israel to do more to protect civilians following the resumption of combat operations in Gaza.

Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 15,207 people and injured at least 40,652 others, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza, said on Saturday. At least 70% of those killed were women and children.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed on Saturday that the country's support for Israel is “not negotiable” in remarks at a forum in California — but also emphasized that the protection of civilians in Gaza is crucial to Israel’s long-term success against Hamas.

Here's a look at more headlines from today:

Israeli soldiers killed: Israel says two more soldiers have died in their offensive in the Gaza Strip. Several others were “lightly injured” as a result of an anti-tank missile being fired toward an IDF vehicle in Beit Hillel in Northern Israel. 

UK sends flights: The United Kingdom will fly surveillance aircraft over Gaza to help Israel locate the hostages taken by Hamas in the 7 October attacks. The UK government said it has been working with other countries “to secure the release of hostages, including British nationals, who have been kidnapped."

IDF destroys tunnels: The IDF said it has destroyed about 500 Hamas tunnels in Gaza during its offensive. It also claimed it has located more than 800 tunnel shafts in the Palestinian enclave, claiming many of the tunnel shafts "were located in civilian areas" and inside civilian structures. 

Netanyahu demands investigation: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday has called for a “thorough inquiry” into the fatal shooting of Yuval Doron Castleman, the civilian who responded to Thursday’s Jerusalem shooting attack and was himself shot and killed, apparently by a soldier who also responded.

Israel peace activists reconsider position: When human rights activist Ziv Stahl was awakened to the booms of rocket fire on October 7, while staying at her sister’s home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, she did not for a moment anticipate the scale of the terrorist attack unfolding around her. Nor did she imagine the horror she would feel when she later called the police, who “basically told me no one is coming.” Read the full story here.