October 14, 2023 Israel-Hamas war news

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

The first evacuation flight for Ukrainian citizens left Israel on Saturday, according to Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A total of 207 Ukrainian nationals, including 63 children, left Tel Aviv for Bucharest.

The next flight is scheduled on Sunday to Cluj, Romania, with 155 Ukrainians.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke on the phone with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, with both expressing concern over the situation in Israel and Gaza, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Faisal said Saudi Arabia "condemns all attacks on civilians and opposes Israel's forcible relocation of Gaza residents outside the region," according to the statement.

He urged humanitarian aid and said Saudi Arabia is willing to work with China to "promote all parties to abide by international humanitarian law, protect civilians from harm, and implement relevant Security Council resolutions on the Palestinian issue."

China's Wang Yi said that Israel's actions have "gone beyond the scope of self-defense," the statement said.

Saudi Arabia has been in talks to normalize relations with Israel in recent months, something Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in September described as a pact that would be “the biggest historical deal since the Cold War.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has told CNN it is reviewing the circumstances surrounding an incident in which a journalist died on the Lebanese border. 

It comes after the Lebanese Army accused Israel of "firing a projectile that hit a civilian car belonging to a media team," leading to the death of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday. 

"A report was received that during the incident, journalists were injured in the area. The incident is under review," the IDF said in a written statement sent to CNN on Sunday. 

The IDF statement said that on Friday afternoon, Hezbollah militants had launched attacks at several positions along the Blue Line, firing an anti-tank missile that struck the security fence of Israel near the community of Hanita. 

"Immediately following the anti-tank missile launch, IDF soldiers suspected a terrorist infiltration into Israeli territory and, in response, used tank and artillery fire to prevent the infiltration," the IDF said. 

US Air Forces Central on Saturday announced the deployment of F-15E fighter jets and A-10 ground-attack jets to the Middle East region.

The movement of the warplanes from the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron and 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, respectively, “bolster the US posture and enhance air operations throughout the Middle East,” an Air Force statement said. It did not specify the number of warplanes involved.

A US Central Command social media post said the A-10s will join another squadron of the aircraft already in the region.

“By posturing advanced fighters and integrating with joint and coalition forces, we are strengthening our partnerships and reinforcing security in the region,” Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, 9th Air Force commander, said in a statement.

Israel will start "significant military operations" in Gaza once they see that civilians have left, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson told CNN.

"The important thing here to focus on is that we will commence significant military operations only once we see that civilians have left the area," Lt. Colonel Jonathan Conricus said.

"It's really important that people in Gaza know we've been very, very generous with the time. We have given ample warning, more than 25 hours... I cannot stress more than enough to say now is the time for Gazans to leave.

More than half of Gaza’s 2 million residents live in the northern section that Israel has told to evacuate. Many families, some of whom were already internally displaced, are now crammed into an even smaller portion of the 140-square-mile territory.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been fleeing south through the battered streets of Gaza after the Israeli military told them to leave northern areas of the densely populated strip.

Parts of the south are becoming even more crowded and overstretched, Gazans say, as waves of Palestinians abandon their homes in the wake of Israel’s statement, ahead of an anticipated ground assault by the IDF.

According to Conricus, the area around the Gaza Strip is densely packed with "hundreds of thousands of Israeli reserve units" that are preparing for various missions.

"The challenge and the mission is to have all of those more than 360,000 reservists both in the south and in the north, get them mission ready, equipped, prepared, task-forced, and ready for any assignments they will have in the future," he said.

Gaza residents spoke to CNN Saturday following Israel’s military announcement it is preparing for the "next stages of the war" against Hamas.

Hind al-Khoudari, 28, a Philippine national from Gaza, told CNN she was stranded at the Rafah crossing to Egypt with her family all day and had to pull back to central Gaza because the crossing is closed.

Khoudari said she arrived at the crossing Saturday morning with her husband and his family in order to leave the Gaza Strip. They encountered more than 20 families with passports from various countries.

After waiting for hours, they were told they will not be able to leave Gaza today, because the Egyptian authorities want the crossing to serve “a humanitarian cause and not only evacuation for foreigners.” Egyptians told her in-laws to stay close to the area of Rafah crossing and be ready for a phone call to leave at any minute.

Read more on the situation at Rafah crossing here.

Abdul Rahman Abu Ghali, a displaced man from north of Gaza City, came to the city of Deir al Balah in central Gaza following recent developments in the region. He shared his views with CNN on the recent Israeli military actions.

“They are monsters. They do not know anything about human rights. They deal with us like animals. They don’t take us as humans. They killed a child. They kill women. They attack houses without any alarm (warning),” he said.

Abu Ghali said children in his area “can’t find food to eat and water to drink.”

“These are very bad days. I think they will be getting worse and worse and worse. These people have no mercy,” he added.

Remember: The Israeli offensive was launched in response to devastating terror attacks by Hamas last week. Hamas runs Gaza, which has spiraled into a humanitarian crisis due to Israel's airstrikes and siege, which has cut off access to basic resources.

Hamas has carried out attacks on Israel for years, and Israel has controlled a blockade on Gaza since the militant group took control of the territory in 2007.

Motaz al-Azayza, 24, a media activist and medic volunteer, told CNN he went back home to Gaza to see his family and then started volunteering with Bahrain Red Crescent Society.

While he was working as a medic volunteer and a cameraman, his organization received a call about a bombing in the city of Deir al-Balah. The bombing, according to him, ended up “in a new massacre.”

“There were 20 murdered and more than maybe 30 injured,” he said.

Azaya recounted sitting in the front seat of an ambulance when a child's body was brought to him and put on his lap.

“I hope someone like an official person from anywhere in the world will start to take action to stop this madness. What is happening to Gazans is it's a disaster. It's a real disaster. It’s like the last day of the Earth.”

At least 12 journalists have been killed and eight others injured amid the violence following the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement Saturday.

Two other journalists are missing, the group added. The organization said it is investigating all reports of journalists killed, injured, detained, or missing in the war, including those hurt as hostilities spread to neighboring Lebanon.

“CPJ emphasizes that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties,” said Sherif Mansour, the committee’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “Journalists are making great sacrifices across the region covering this important conflict. Measures to ensure their safety must be taken by all parties to stop this deadly and heavy toll.”

US President Joe Biden used his remarks at an LGBTQ rights group dinner in Washington, DC, to denounce antisemitism and Islamophobia amid Israel's war with Hamas.

“A week ago, we saw hate manifested another way, with the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Biden said, speaking to the Human Rights Campaign. “More than 1,300 innocent lives lost in Israel, including at least 27 Americans. Children, and grandparents alike kidnapped, held hostage by Hamas.”

The president also addressed the situation in Gaza, which he described as a "humanitarian crisis."

“Innocent Palestinian families — and the vast majority have nothing to do with Hamas — being used as human shields," Biden said.

Biden called the attacks a reminder that “hate just hides under the rocks until there's a little oxygen blown under," adding that history has taught us repeatedly that "antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia — they're all connected."

"Hate toward one group left unanswered opens the door for more hate, toward more groups, more often, readily," Biden said, adding that "the antidote to hate is love" and "silence is complicity."