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LIVE UPDATES. Israel-Hamas war rages as crisis in Gaza deepens

CDA News October 17, 2023

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Israel-Hamas war rages as crisis in Gaza deepens What we’re covering

US President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday as he seeks to demonstrate staunch support for the country while also pressing for ways to ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza.

The World Health Organization warned Gaza faces an “imminent” public health crisis, with limited water supplies for hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes. More than 2,800 people have died in Israeli airstrikes, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks that killed 1,400 people. Hamas claims it is holding up to 250 Israeli and foreign nationals hostage in the enclave. The Israeli military said there are at least 199 hostages.
Here’s how to help humanitarian efforts in Israel and Gaza.
3:31 a.m. ET, October 17, 2023
Gaza facing “unparalleled humanitarian crisis,” Hamas media office says
From CNN’s Kareem Khadder
Gaza needs international assistance urgently as it faces an “unparalleled humanitarian crisis,” according to the head of the Hamas-controlled government media office.

“The magnitude of casualties, injuries, the destruction of residential units, infrastructure, public facilities, and economic losses have given rise to an unparalleled humanitarian crisis in Gaza, unlike anything seen in previous aggressions,” Salama Marouf said in a statement Tuesday.
As the humanitarian situation worsens, “there is a noticeable decline in [the] international response,” Salama said.

Decisive action was “urgently required” from the international community to halt what he called a campaign of “ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the occupation against the Palestinian people.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization, told CNN’s John Vause that the humanitarian corridor into Gaza remains unsafe due to Israeli bombing, with more than 44 Gaza hospitals targeted and 84,000 pregnant women in need of assistance.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks that killed 1,400 people. It has laid siege to the enclave and told more than 1 million people to move to southern Gaza from the north.

3:12 a.m. ET, October 17, 2023
Conflict in Gaza “stirs outrage among people in the region,” Iraqi prime minister tells Biden in a call

From CNN’s Aqeel Najim in Baghdad and Larry Register

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani is pictured speaking during the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/File
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani told US President Joe Biden that “continued aggression in Gaza stirs outrage among people in the region and globally,” according to a readout of a call from the prime minister’s office.

The two men stressed “the importance of containing the conflict and avoiding the expansion of war, given the far-reaching consequences it has on regional and global peace, as well as its adverse impact on civilians,” it said.

People hold a mass rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza, on October 13, in Baghdad, Iraq. Anmar Khalil/AP
Al-Sudani emphasized the importance of establishing humanitarian corridors to provide essential aid to Gaza, according to the readout.

They also discussed coordinating efforts to promote lasting stability in the region and reinforcing the bilateral partnership between Iraq and the United States, following the Iraqi- US Strategic Framework Agreement.

2:45 a.m. ET, October 17, 2023
21 killed in Israeli airstrikes on residence in Khan Younis, Palestinian interior ministry says
From CNN’s Eyad Kourdi

An Israeli airstrike on a residence in Gaza killed 21 people, Palestine’s Ministry of Interior Affairs said Tuesday.

The strike hit the Al-Jabri family’s residence in the Emirati neighborhood of Khan Younis, the Gaza-based ministry said in a statement. Several others were injured, but the ministry did not provide an exact figure.

Khan Younis is in southern Gaza, which has become increasingly crowded with displaced civilians after Israel told people to evacuate northern Gaza.

IDF international spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN’s John Vause earlier that he was “not aware of any strikes specifically in those areas but they could have happened.”

2:59 a.m. ET, October 17, 2023
84,000 pregnant women at risk in Gaza with aid stalled at Rafah crossing, World Health Organization says
From CNN’s Mihir Melwani

Volunteers load food and supplies onto trucks in an aid convoy for Gaza on October 16, in North Sinai, Egypt. Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images

The World Health Organization is unable to get aid and supplies to Gaza, potentially putting 84,000 pregnant women at risk, a spokesperson told CNN.

There are “78 cubic meters of health supplies, which is enough for the basic essential needs for 300,000 people” positioned on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, which is currently closed, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told CNN’s John Vause.

The WHO’s director-general had an agreement with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to open the crossing, but Israeli bombing has rendered the passage unsafe, she said.

It’s a terrifying, really distressing waiting game, with all of us only wanting to help,” Harris said.

There are 84,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with many delivering every day, Harris told Vause. “Babies don’t care about bombs, they come when they come,” she said.

Several hospitals are “out of action due to the physical damage of the bombing,” Harris said, noting that the WHO has documented over 44 attacks on hospitals.

2:53 a.m. ET, October 17, 2023
Japan announces $10 million in emergency assistance for Gaza civilians
From CNN’s Mayumi Maruyama

Families take refuge in a hospital after homes were destroyed during Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 16. Abed Zagout/Anadolu/Getty Images

Japan will provide $10 million in emergency assistance for civilians in Gaza, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said in a press conference on Tuesday.

The assistance will come “through international organizations,” Kamikawa added.

“Japan will work with humanitarian groups to ensure that innocent civilians and Palestinian refugees receive food, water, medical care, and support they need,” she said.

The foreign minister reiterated Japan’s firm condemnation of Hamas’s attacks and expressed support for diplomatic efforts.

2:38 a.m. ET, October 17, 2023
Biden visit will not complicate or delay potential Gaza ground incursion, IDF says
From CNN’s Mihir Melwani

President Joe Biden is seen on the South Lawn of The White House on October 13. Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post/ Getty Images
The Israeli military does not expect a planned visit by US President Joe Biden to complicate or delay any ground invasion of Gaza, a spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday.

Israel Defense Forces international spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN’s John Vause he believes Biden supports Israel’s campaign to defeat Hamas.

I think the president also said that ‘Hamas needs to be destroyed,’ and that is exactly our military aim,” Conricus said.
Biden is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday.

1:19 a.m. ET, October 17, 2023
Israeli airstrikes on Rafah kill at least 28 people, Palestinian interior ministry says
From CNN’s Abeer Salman, Kareem El Damanhoury, and Larry Register.

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 people in Rafah early Tuesday, according to a statement by the Palestinian Ministry of Interior.

Another statement from the ministry said airstrikes also killed and injured people in Khan Yunis, but did not provide an exact number.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would not confirm whether they launched strikes in those areas.

IDF international spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN’s John Vause he was “not aware of any strikes specifically in those areas but they could have happened.”

“The combat operations continue. We continue to hunt Hamas operatives to attempt to degrade their military capabilities,” Conricus said.

He said the hunt for Hamas targets is part of “the war that has been forced upon us” and Israel will continue military operations “according to the law of armed conflict and of course to minimize civilian casualties.

1:06 a.m. ET, October 17, 2023
UN Security Council rejects Russian resolution on humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza that fails to condemn Hamas

From CNN’s Richard Roth and Heather Law
Palestinian U.N. ambassador Riyad Mansour, background right, addresses members of the U.N. Security Council at United Nations headquarters on October 16, 2023. Craig Ruttle/AP

The United Nations Security Council on Monday rejected a Russian resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas because the draft did not get the required minimum number of votes to be passed.

The resolution received five votes in favor, four against, and six abstentions, with the United States, the United Kingdom, and France voting against due to the resolution’s failure to condemn Hamas for its attacks on Israel. The draft would have needed nine votes in favor to proceed.

“By failing to condemn Hamas, Russia is giving cover to a terrorist group that brutalizes innocent civilians. It is outrageous, it is hypocritical, and it is indefensible,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in justification of the US vote. She previously compared the attacks executed by Hamas to the “most heinous atrocities committed by ISIS.”

We cannot support a resolution which fails to condemn Hamas’ terror attacks,” Ambassador Barbara Woodward, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said in her explanation of the vote.

France’s Permanent Representative to the UN Nicolas de Rivière said “several essential elements were lacking” from Russia’s draft resolution and instead encouraged the council to “unite around the draft proposed by the Brazilian presidency, and agree to condemn this terrorist attack, ensure humanitarian assistance and protect the civilian population of Gaza.”

Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya claimed the resolution failed to get adopted because of the Western bloc’s selfish intentions.

“The UN Security Council has once again become hostage to the aspirations of Western countries by not adopting the Russian Federation’s draft resolution on the Middle East,” Nebenzya stated, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt remains closed, leaving humanitarian supplies piling up on the Egyptian side of the border.
Neither Gazans nor foreign nationals have been able to cross, and Egypt’s foreign minister is placing the blame on Israel, saying there has been no progress in efforts to open the crossing — the only viable outlet to get people out and vital supplies in.

A family of five Palestinian-Americans said they waited for several hours to cross the border, but remain stuck in Gaza with limited supplies and electricity.

The UN says its agencies have supplies at the ready to move into southern Gaza, while the EU is launching a humanitarian air bridge operation to Egypt that will bring supplies to the enclave, the European Commission president said.

Early Tuesday, Egyptian state-affiliated media outlet Al-Qahera News reported that humanitarian aid convoys were moving toward the Rafah crossing.

Here’s what else to know:
Biden trip: US President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in the early hours of Tuesday from Tel Aviv.

Biden had been deliberating whether to make a wartime visit to Israel, a trip fraught with risk that could stand as a dramatic show of support for a top US ally while sending a warning to other countries in the region against escalation.

Aid plan: The US and Israel “have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza,” Blinken announced Tuesday. However, it is unclear if any progress was made on the opening of the Rafah crossing.

Dwindling water supply: The director of Gaza’s water authority said Monday that water supply has not yet been restored to the enclave.

The WHO warned that people in Gaza face an “imminent” public health crisis, saying the limited amount of water is creating a desperate situation as the lives of more than 3,500 patients in 35 hospitals are at immediate risk.

Israeli strikes: At least five people were killed and 15 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Rafah, the Palestinian interior ministry said.

The ministry said the strike in the southern city happened without prior warning. The Israel Defense Forces issued guidance Friday, telling all civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate southward.

Some Palestinians who followed the warnings and fled their homes in search of safety were killed by Israeli airstrikes outside of the evacuation zone.

Hostages latest: Hamas is holding up to 250 hostages captured during its October 7 attack, according to a spokesperson for the group’s armed wing.

He added they cannot determine the exact number of hostages due to constant Israeli airstrikes, which he claimed had killed 22 captives. CNN cannot verify the claims. The Israeli military said Monday at least 199 people are being held hostage in Gaza.

Regional conflict fears: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the conflict in Israel risks spilling over regionally. Meanwhile, Israel ordered the evacuation of 28 villages within 2 kilometers of the border with Lebanon amid an exchange of fire with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Other world leaders, including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said they are working to prevent an escalation.

US support: The Pentagon has ordered that roughly 2,000 troops prepare for a potential deployment to Israel to help with tasks like medical and logistical support, according to multiple defense officials.

A US Marine rapid response force is also headed to the waters off the coast of Israel, according to a defense official.

While the US is bolstering its presence in the Middle East, US officials have made clear there are no plans for US troops to become directly involved in any Israeli military operations against Hamas.