Our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war has moved here.
November 12, 2023 Israel-Hamas war
By Heather Chen, Andrew Raine, Sophie Tanno, Maureen Chowdhury, Antoinette Radford and Matt Meyer, CNN
Updated 12:56 AM ET, Mon November 13, 2023
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Hundreds evacuate through Rafah crossing as Gaza health system crumbles. Here's what to know
From CNN staff
Hospitals across Gaza are running out of electricity and supplies, with staff working in dire conditions while thousands of residents pack into medical centers, seeking shelter from a seemingly endless barrage of airstrikes.
Gaza's second-largest hospital — Al-Quds in Gaza City — is no longer operational, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
In Gaza's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, patients and staff are trapped inside due to fighting nearby, according to health officials and aid agencies. The hospital is rapidly running out of electricity, food and medical supplies, a senior official at the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza told CNN on Saturday.
Israel said it opened an evacuation corridor outside Al-Shifa Sunday, but the International Committee of the Red Cross said no one had left through it. CNN cannot independently verify whether any people have been able to evacuate.
Here are more key developments from today in the Israel-Hamas war:
- Hundreds evacuate through Rafah crossing: At least 826 foreign nationals evacuated Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Sunday, an Egyptian border official told a journalist working for CNN, marking the largest number to leave Gaza in a single day since the war broke out. At least nine wounded Palestinians also crossed into Egypt, a government official said. Rafah is the only crossing open during Israel's siege on the enclave, making it key to regional efforts to get aid in and people out.
- Israeli prime minister speaks: Hamas only wants humanitarian pauses in Gaza to let up the fighting against the group, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash. He also claimed the embattled Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, is being used as a Hamas command center, and that Israel was willing to help civilians evacuate. The Israeli leader also refused to answer whether he would take responsibility for the October 7 attacks, and seemed to rule out a role for the Palestinian Authority in post-war Gaza.
- Ministry cut off from hospitals: In another sign of the crumbling health infrastructure in Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah says it has lost contact with northern Gaza hospitals.
- More clashes with Hezbollah: Israel’s military says several civilians were injured by missiles fired from Lebanon Sunday. The Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets attacked several Hezbollah targets within Lebanon in response. The IDF's clashes with the the paramilitary group are central to fears of the Israel-Hamas war spreading into a wider Middle East conflict.
- Plans for post-war Gaza: Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, says Israel is looking for a long-term plan for Gaza, and consulting the United States on the matter. He says it’s the Israeli “position that Palestinians will have to govern themselves,” but also indicated — echoing Netanyahu's earlier remarks — that the government would not support a role for the Palestinian Authority in its current form.
- French march against antisemitism: Tens of thousands of demonstrators joined marches against antisemitism across France on Sunday, including more than 105,000 people in Paris, CNN affiliate BFM TV reported, citing the interior ministry. Tensions have been rising in France — and particularly in the capital — over the Israel-Hamas war, and officials have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents. Also Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his country's solidarity with Israel in a call with the Israeli president.
3-year-old American among hostages held in Gaza, according to White House
From CNN’s Kevin Liptak
US President Joe Biden discussed the war in Gaza with the emir of Qatar on Sunday, including Qatari-brokered efforts to free hostages.
In a readout of the call, the White House revealed that one of the hostages being held is a 3-year-old American toddler whose parents were killed by Hamas during its October 7 attacks in Israel.
"The two leaders agreed that all hostages must be released without further delay," the White House said in a readout of the call.
Biden "affirmed his vision for a future Palestinian state where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side with equal measures of stability and dignity" in Sunday's phone call, according to the readout.
"He noted that Hamas has long been an impediment to that outcome," the White House statement reads.
Operating rooms are completely out of service at Gaza's largest hospital, director says
From CNN’s Hamdi Alkhshali in Atlanta and Jo Shelley in Tel Aviv
None of the operating rooms at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza are functioning due to lack of electricity, the medical center's director told Al-Araby TV on Sunday.
"The operating rooms are completely out of service, and now the wounded come to us and we cannot give them anything other than first aid,” Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya said.
“Whoever needs surgery dies, and we cannot do anything for him.”
The hospital director said staff were trying to keep premature babies at the hospital alive after oxygen ran out and they had to be moved from the neonatal unit’s incubators.
“I was with them a while ago. They are now exposed, because we have taken them out of the incubators. We wrap them in foil and put hot water next to them so that we can warm them,” Abu Salmiya said.
The doctor said several children have died while in the intensive care unit and the nursery over the last day.
More background: Heavy fighting near Gaza’s largest hospital has left it in a “catastrophic situation,” with patients and staff trapped inside, ambulances unable to collect the wounded and life-support systems without electricity, health officials and aid agencies report.
The World Health Organization says Al-Shifa has been without power for three days.
“It's been three days without electricity, without water and with very poor internet, which has severely impacted our ability to provide essential care,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on the social media platform X.
“Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore,” he said.
Dispute over fuel offer: The Israeli military said it put 300 liters of fuel at the entrance to the Al-Shifa Hospital complex on Sunday, but that Hamas had blocked the hospital from receiving it.
Abu Salmiya, the hospital director, told Al-Araby TV that Israeli officials had indeed called him to offer the fuel — which he said would provide power to run the generators for only thirty minutes — but that staff had been too scared to go get it.
The Israel Defense Forces released a video it said showed soldiers delivering the jerry cans to a curbside location near the hospital entrance. It also released an audio recording, purportedly of a hospital official accusing a Hamas leader at the health ministry of refusing to allow it to be collected.
Abu Salmiya said it was the presence of Israeli tanks that prevented collection.
“Of course, my paramedic team was completely afraid to go out,” he said, adding, “We want every drop of fuel, but I told (the IDF) that it should be sent through the International Red Cross or through any international institution.”
Hamas dismissed the allegations and said the Israeli fuel delivery was a propaganda stunt.
Israeli army conducts raids deeper in Gaza City, military spokesperson says
From CNN's Jonny Hallam
The Israeli ground operation expanded deeper within Gaza City today, army spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a news briefing.
Infantry and combat engineering forces reached the outskirts of Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza, Hagari said. Meanwhile, army forces coordinated with the Israeli Navy to raid the Gaza marina area.
"They are fully encircling the area," Hagari said
The Israeli army is "locating long-range rocket launchers aimed at Israel," according to the spokesperson.
While destroying anti-tank launching pads, tunnel shafts and terror infrastructure, Hagari said Israeli forces arrested alleged members of Hamas, who were brought back to Israel for investigation.
He said the army — along with Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet — had arrested 20 detainees, including "terrorists that were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack."
Red Cross urges protection for Gaza civilians as they evacuate under perilous conditions
From CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issued an urgent appeal Sunday for the protection of civilians in Gaza — emphasizing the perilous situation faced by those attempting to evacuate or remaining in conflict zones.
The ICRC expressed grave concern in its statement for the safety of vulnerable populations, including medical staff, patients, infants, people with disabilities and the elderly, as hostilities escalate in densely populated urban areas, including around hospitals.
"An unbearable human tragedy is unfolding in front of our eyes. People call us day and night, saying they are afraid to open their door for fear of getting killed and pleading to help them reach safety," said William Schomburg, the head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Gaza. "As a humanitarian worker, I feel frustrated not to be able to respond to these calls, as our teams lack basic security conditions to move in North Gaza."
The ICRC highlighted the precarious conditions under which evacuations occur, with displaced individuals, including women and children waving white flags, navigating through dangerous areas without access to necessities such as food and water.
The organization stressed the importance of preventing the separation of family members during evacuations.
The ICRC also called for an unimpeded flow of humanitarian assistance to the enclave, as approximately 100,000 displaced people now lack essentials like shelter, food, water and hygiene.
The Red Cross has intensified its emergency response in Gaza, deploying a surgical team and delivering critical medical supplies to support health care facilities throughout the strip, according to the statement.
The organization has also coordinated evacuation convoys for hospital patients and displaced people from northern Gaza in recent days.
Border official says hundreds of foreign nationals left Gaza Sunday, marking largest evacuation yet
From Asmaa Khalil in Rafah and CNN's Zeena Saifi in Jerusalem
More than 800 foreign nationals passed through the Rafah crossing into Egypt on Sunday, an Egyptian border official told a journalist working for CNN, marking the largest number that has passed through the crossing in a single day since evacuations from the enclave began.
It is the first evacuation of foreign nationals since Thursday, when more than 300 left Gaza through the crossing, according to a border official.
More background: Located in Egypt’s north Sinai, the Rafah crossing is the sole border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. It falls along an 8-mile (12.8-kilometer) fence that separates Gaza from the Sinai desert.
As the only route in and out of Gaza that is not closed due to Israel's siege, Rafah has played a key role in efforts to get aid in and people out of the enclave.
CNN's Abbas Al Lawati, Mohammed Abdelbary and Rob Picheta contributed to this report.
Israel is looking ahead to long-term plan for Gaza, Israeli ambassador to US says
From CNN’s Eve Brennan in London
Israel is looking ahead to a long-term plan for Gaza and is discussing the issue with the United States, according to Ambassador Michael Herzog.
“It is our position that Palestinians will have to govern themselves. What will be the exact role of the Palestinian Authority (PA) remains to be seen, because everybody understands that the PA, in its current composition — they can hardly govern Ramallah. So certainly not Gaza,” the Israeli ambassador to the US said in an interview on Fox News Sunday.
The Palestinian Authority would have to undergo reform, Herzog said.
The ambassador said Israel is not interested in occupying or governing Gaza, adding that security is the main priority.
“We are not in Gaza in order to occupy Gaza or to govern Gaza. We are there to move the Hamas military threat against Israel and their ability to rebuild the capabilities and strike again and again, as they're saying they would like to do. That's our intent,” Herzog said.
Herzog claimed Israel is “very targeted” in its operation in Gaza.
“People have to understand Gaza is the biggest terror complex around the globe with over 500 kilometers (about 310 miles) of terror tunnels. … We are not targeting the population,” Herzog said.
“I believe that what we see today with more and more people moving to the south indicates to us that these people do not want to serve as human shields for Hamas. They understand they don't like us, but they don't like Hamas either,” he added.
Some context: More than 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military offensive nearly a month ago, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in the Palestinian enclave said last week.
It’s unclear how many combatants are included in the total. CNN cannot independently verify the numbers released by the ministry in Gaza, which is sealed off by Israel and mostly sealed by Egypt.
Thousands of Gaza residents have fled northern areas of the strip as Israel's military urges them to move south, but there are no fully protected zones in Gaza. Eyewitnesses and hospital officials have described recent blasts in central and southern areas despite the calls to evacuate there.
Israeli military says its fighter jets attacked several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy and Ben Wedeman
The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets attacked several Hezbollah targets within Lebanon on Sunday, in response to attacks carried out by the Lebanese militant group in northern Israel.
"IDF fighter jets of the Air Force attacked several targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanese territory, in response to the shooting that was carried out earlier today," the IDF said in a statement.
Israeli forces said Hezbollah military infrastructure was among the targets it attacked.
Earlier today, the IDF said it was launching artillery strikes in response to anti-tank missiles that had been fired from Lebanon into Dovev, located in northern Israel.
A CNN team in southern Lebanon heard outgoing rocket fire Sunday and observed Israel's air defense system, the Iron Dome, intercepting two rockets over Rosh HaNikra in northern Israel.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted a military logistical team that was about to start setting up communication towers and surveillance equipment.
More context: The IDF's clashes with the Iran-backed paramilitary group are central to fears of the Israel-Hamas war spreading into a wider Middle East conflict.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah gave his second speech since the war started via video link Saturday, saying his group would keep up the pressure on Israel at its border.
CNN's Zeena Saifi and Amir Tal contributed to this report.