Israel-Hamas war live updates: Blinken in Turkey for Gaza talks; Israel says it’s taken control of Hamas outpost

China will work to restore peace in the Palestinian territories, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday, after Beijing last week assumed the monthly presidency of the U.N. Security Council.

“China will do its utmost to encourage the Security Council to fulfil its responsibilities, play its role, build consensus and take responsible and meaningful actions as soon as possible to ease the current crisis and safeguard the safety of civilians in order to restore peace,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a regular press briefing, according to Reuters.

China has decried the suffering of civilians in Israel and the Gaza Strip and urged for a cease-fire on humanitarian grounds, but, like Russia, has so far fallen short of outright condemning the Oct. 7 terror attacks carried out by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

— Ruxandra Iordache

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fikan held a two-hour-and-a-half meeting in Ankara, according to a Google-translated report from Turkish state agency Anadolu.

They made no immediate statements following the encounter.

Blinken arrived in Turkey last night and was widely expected to discuss developments in Israel and the Palestinian territories with his Turkish counterpart.

“Today, I will meet with government leaders as we seek to prevent the spread of the conflict in Gaza and find ways to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance,” he said Monday on social media.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defence Force said it was pausing fire for humanitarian evacuations of civilians from the north of the Gaza Strip, who have been instructed to head to the south of the enclave.

“I would like to inform you that although Hamas is harming the ongoing humanitarian efforts on behalf of the people of Gaza and is using you as human shields, today the IDF will once again allow passage on the Salah al-Din Road between 10:00 AM and 14:00 PM,” Avichay Adraee, IDF spokesperson for Arab media communication, said in a Google-translated social media update.

“For your safety, take this next opportunity to move south beyond Wadi Gaza. If you care about yourself and your loved ones, head south according to our instructions. Rest assured that Hamas leaders have already taken care of defending themselves.”

This would mark the IDF’s third pause in fighting to allow the safe passage of civilians since the weekend, according to Israeli military. CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.

— Ruxandra Iordache

“This is the last chance for the two-state solution” that would create independent Palestinian and Israeli states, the EU’s top envoy said in a Monday speech, noting that the international community’s failure to broker a “comprehensive and definitive settlement” could lead to a “spiral of violence and mutual hate for generations.”

Speaking at the EU Ambassadors conference, Josep Borrell said that “the unfolding tragedy in the Middle East is the outcome of collective political and moral failure, and the Israeli and Palestinian people are paying a high price for it. And this price will continue increasing.”

He criticized previous EU and Western attempts to resolve the long-standing tensions between Israeli and Palestinian people, saying governments have failed to produce a credible roadmap to materialize the two-state solution introduced by the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, which debuted mutual recognition between Israeli and Palestinian officials.

As a result, he said, “The forces of denial in both camps have continued growing, under the hubris of some and the desperation of others.”

While acknowledging the “barbarism” of the “inexcusable” Oct. 7 terror attacks orchestrated by Hamas against Israel, Borrell also signaled the need for a proportionate retaliatory response from Israel, stressing the need to show “that our policy in the Middle East is first and foremost a principled policy, rooted in international law. Never forget to mention that when talking about the right of Israel to defend, which [it] certainly has and has to use.”

Israel has launched a full siege of the Gaza Strip, sealing it off from Israeli resources and proceeding with heavy bombardment that it says targets Hamas positions.

“Even if Hamas is uprooted from Gaza, it will not solve the problem of Gaza, let alone the West Bank problem,” Borrell said Monday, urging a pause to the fighting and further humanitarian assistance for civilians stranded in the enclave.

“A humanitarian pause, counterbalanced by an access to hostages with international community and the Red cross as a first step of release is an initiative in which we should work. A massive increase in humanitarian support, the evacuation of third-country nationals from Gaza, a proportionate Israeli response. All of that is necessary.”

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Jordan air force carried out an emergency overnight airdrop of medical and pharmaceutical supplies to the Jordanian field hospital in the Gaza Strip, it said in a Google-translated social media update.

“This is our duty to aid our brothers and sisters injured in the war on Gaza. We will always be there for our Palestinian brethren,” Jordan’s King Abdullah II said in a separate post.

Though a vocal supporter of Palestinian civilians, King Abdullah previously said that attempting to push such refugees into Jordan or Egypt would mark a “red line,” according to Reuters.

The Jordanian monarch and Crown Prince Hussein met visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the weekend to discuss humanitarian aid to the Gaza enclave.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Communication lines are gradually being restored across the Gaza Strip, Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel said in a Facebook update.

“We would like to announce the start of the communication services (landline, cell and internet) to work gradually, in different regions of the sector after being separated from the Israeli side,” the firm said.

It had reported a “complete disruption of all communication and internet services” on Sunday. Incidents of communication blackout are becoming increasingly common in the Gaza Strip as a result of bombardment.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Forty French citizens have been killed since the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7 against Israel, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Monday.

“The toll this morning is of 40 [French people] dead and eight disappeared … among those disappeared, there are evidently hostages,” she said in a radio interview with France Inter, according to a CNBC translation.

Paris has firmly backed Israel throughout the conflict, with French President Emmanuel Macron traveling to the country at the end of last month to express solidarity.

“What I say, first, to French Jewish people, is that I fully understand their anguish in the face of this resurgence of antisemitic acts,” she added, according to a CNBC translation.

— Ruxandra Iordache

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Ankara, Turkey, where on Monday he is expected to hold a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on developments in the Gaza Strip, Turkish state-run outlet Anadolu reported, according to a Google translation.

Blinken has been carrying out a regional tour of the Middle East that included stops in Jordan and Iraq over the weekend. Last week, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, in two separate encounters.

Turkey has repeatedly voiced support for the Palestinian people, supplying humanitarian aid and urging an end to hostilities. Erdogan has also accused Israel of crimes against humanities in the strip, where the Israeli military says it is carrying out a military campaign targeting Hamas positions and commanders, rather than civilians.

The U.S. has been a stalwart supporter of Israel’s right to self-defense following the Oct. 7 terror attacks orchestrated by Hamas, but has increasingly begun to call for a humanitarian pause to fighting to assist Palestinian civilians.

Commanders of the two largest military forces in the NATO alliance, Turkey and the U.S. enjoy a strategic partnership repeatedly strained by Erdogan’s exclusionary domestic policies and oft-touted “special relationship” with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defense Forces took control of a Hamas compound and struck over 450 aerial targets in an overnight operation, the military said in a Telegram update.

It said that the targeted compound included observation posts, training areas and underground tunnels, and that Hamas operations were also killed during the offensive.

CNBC could not verify the report.

The IDF has repeatedly stated an official goal to fully eliminate Hamas’ military capabilities in the Gaza Strip and has run multiple campaigns targeting senior Hamas commanders in the enclave.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defense Forces paused fighting twice over the weekend to facilitate civilian evacuations within the Gaza Strip, a spokesperson said in an TV interview with CNN.

“Yesterday and today, with prior notice, for many hours and warning, we facilitated, we stopped firing in certain areas,” IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said, in a video clip published overnight. He added that humanitarian corridors were opened for the “unhindered flow of the Palestinian civilians south, to safer areas.”

Israel has repeatedly instructed Palestinian civilians to leave the north of the enclave and head south of the Wadi Gaza wetlands.

“Even these efforts were hindered by Hamas,” Conricus said.

CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.

Israel has faced significant pressure and backlash over its ongoing bombardment of the Gaza region, which it says it is conducting, alongside a ground advance, to demilitarize the positions and senior commanders of Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration has repeatedly rejected calls for a cease-fire.

Human rights groups have warned of the exacerbating humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where civilians have been deprived of Israel’s food, water, fuel and electricity resources and receive limited aid through the Rafah crossing that borders Egypt.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Leaders of United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations issued a joint statement calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.

They called Palestinian militant group Hamas’ terror attack on Oct. 7 “horrific.”

“However, the horrific killings of even more civilians in Gaza is an outrage, as is cutting off 2.2 million Palestinians from food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel,” they said.

The leaders again asked all parties to respect international humanitarian and human rights laws. They also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all civilian hostages.

“An entire population is besieged and under attack, denied access to the essentials for survival, bombed in their homes, shelters, hospitals and places of worship. This is unacceptable,” the statement said.

“It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now.”

— Christine Wang

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will call foreign leaders Monday to discuss efforts to increase humanitarian relief to civilians in Gaza, the White House said in a statement. The Biden administration did not specifically mention which leaders she would be speaking to.

— Christine Wang

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said that the Israel-Hamas war plays to the advantage of Russia by diverting attention away from its siege of Ukraine.

“Of course, Russia is very happy with this war,” he said in a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They just want to divide the world and to take focus from Ukraine to another war.”

He noted that Russia’s stance in the Israel-Hamas war could be a signal of how the month-long conflict might spread to other parts of the Middle East and beyond.

He added that Russia could take advantage of the Middle Eastern instability and make the region another target of invasion: “They began in Ukraine. After Ukraine, in the Middle East, they will continue their plan.”

Historically, Russia has maintained productive diplomatic relations with Israel. But Iran’s support of Russia amid its assault on Ukraine puts the Kremlin in a more complex geopolitical position. Its stable relationship with Israel and budding relationship with Iran causes tension in who Russia sides with.

The Israel-Hamas war also poses trouble for Ukraine financial support from the U.S.

American lawmakers have been at odds about whether to continue funding Ukraine when it now has another ally at war. Zelenskyy said that U.S. funding will be the most crucial over the next year. He said that reducing Ukrainian resources would fulfill Russia’s goal of destabilizing Europe so that it could pursue a larger takeover.

“Now is a very important moment not to lose the will, not to lose this strong position and not to lose your democracy,” Zelenskyy said.

— Rebecca Picciotto

Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, said Sunday that the United States has not taken a hard enough stance in support of Palestinians.

“We need to see the U.S. playing the role of an honest mediator, not adopting the Israeli narrative,” Zomlot said in a Sunday interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We need a grown-up in the room and that is the U.S.”

Zomlot’s comments followed a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the West Bank city of Ramallah earlier on Sunday where notably, no joint statement was issued afterward. Zomlot said that is because there is still tension between the U.S. and Palestine.

A statement from Blinken’s office noted the points where the two leaders are on the same page: the necessity for humanitarian aid, prioritizing civilian lives and finding a pathway to Palestinian independence.

But Blinken and Abbas still diverged when it came to demands for an immediate ceasefire. Blinken has expressed support for “humanitarian pauses” of the violence in order to ease aid deliveries and hostage rescues. However, he has also continued to stand by the U.S. position that a total ceasefire could allow Hamas to regroup and repeat its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Palestine wants the U.S. to favor a ceasefire.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t heard that and that’s why we did not come up with a joint statement,” Zomlot said.

— Rebecca Picciotto

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, will introduce a non-binding resolution in the Senate on Monday threatening U.S. military action against Iran if it expands the war between Israel and Hamas.

Such an expansion may occur by “activating” Hezbollah or by killing American troops through Iran-backed proxies in Syria or Iraq, Graham said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed militant group based in Lebanon, which shares a border with Israel’s north.

“There is no Hamas without the ayatollah’s support. There’s no Hezbollah without the ayatollah’s support,” Graham said. “The Great Satan in the region isn’t Israel or the United States, it’s Iran.”

Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, threatened escalation with Israel on Friday, in his first address since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

A Senate resolution is meant to deter Iran from stoking a broader regional conflict, the senators said.

“It’s aggressive but it’s absolutely necessary,” Blumenthal said.

“[Iran] is financially fueling, equipping, supplying all of these proxies that have as their goal to disrupt and destabilize the region,” he added.

— Greg Iacurci