Israel-Hamas war live updates: Israeli military says it hit Hezbollah position in Lebanon; Gaza City residents flee following IDF evacuation order
IDF says it hit a building next to Gaza’s Al-Quds hospital
Israeli forces say they struck a building adjacent to the Al Quds hospital in Gaza City, describing the site in a statement as housing “terrorists.”
“The attack led to significant secondary explosions which indicate the presence of a Hamas weapons depot in a civilian area,” the IDF statement said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) wrote on a post on social media site X: “While displaced individuals was trying to obtain drinking water, the IOF shelled a house near Al-Quds Hospital, what compelled the residents to seek refuge in the hospital in a state of fear and panic, especially among the children.”
Palestinian people, who left their houses, take shelter at the al-Quds Hospital as Israeli attacks continue on the 25th day in Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, Gaza on October 31, 2023. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ali Jadallah | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
In a separate earlier statement, the PRCS accused the IDF of attacking the area near the hospital Monday night, saying that “(Israel) targeted the vicinity of Al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip with two missiles, approximately 50 meters away from the hospital gate.”
The IDF says it has repeatedly warned Gaza City residents to move south for their safety, although Israeli airstrikes also continue in the southern half of the enclave.
More than 60% of Gaza’s hospitals and medical facilities are now out of service, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
— Natasha Turak
Death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas conflict
EDITORS NOTE-Graphic Content: This post contains an image depicting death in Gaza.
At least 10,328 people have been killed and 25,956 have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 terror attack carried out by Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel’s retaliatory campaign, according to the Palestinian ministry of health in the Hamas-run enclave.
(EDITORS NOTE: Image depicts graphic content) Relatives of Palestinians who were killed in the Israeli attacks on the 30th day of the conflict mourn after they were moved from the morgue of Nasser Hospital to be buried at a cemetery in Khan Yunis, Gaza on November 05, 2023.
Abed Zagout | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
At least 155 Palestinian people have been killed in the West Bank in that same period.
In Israel, over 1,400 people were killed and more than 7,198 have been injured since the early-October start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to the Israeli government.
— Ruxandra Iordache
IDF’s four-hour evacuation window for encircled Gaza City residents closes
The Israel Defense Forces announced a four-hour evacuation window for residents of Gaza City, as the Israeli military continues its campaign against what it calls Hamas strongholds.
Palestinians fleeing Gaza City towards the southern areas ride on a road on November 7, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Mustafa Hassona | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s spokesman for Arab media, wrote in a Google-translated post on social media site X, “I would like to inform you that although Hamas continues to undermine the ongoing humanitarian efforts on your behalf and uses 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. For your safety, take this next opportunity to move south beyond Wadi Gaza.”
That four-hour window has now passed.
Palestinians fleeing Gaza City towards the southern areas ride on a road on November 7, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Mustafa Hassona | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Residents fleeing Gaza City, which had been home to about 30% of the blockaded enclave’s 2.3 million people, were cited by Reuters as saying they passed tanks that appeared to be in position to storm the city. CNBC could not verify the report.
Israeli forces have continued bombing sites in southern Gaza despite telling residents to flee southward for their safety.
— Natasha Turak
UN relief agency says 66 people have been killed while taking refuge in its shelters
Sixty-six people have been killed and 540 have been injured while sheltering in 50 facilities of the U.N. Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) over the past month of conflict, UNRWA said on social media.
“People sheltering under the @UN flag- seeking safety in @UNRWA schools- were killed in places that should be protected under International Humanitarian Law,” the agency said.
CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.
Many of the UNRWA-run schools on Palestinian territories have been transformed into refugee shelters amid ongoing bombardment and heavy displacement of the population from the north of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli military says that it only sets out to target the military positions or operations of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
— Ruxandra Iordache
More than 100 foreign nationals, four injured Palestinians enter Egypt from Gaza
Palestinians, including foreign passport holders, wait at Rafah border crossing after evacuations were suspended following an Israeli strike on an ambulance, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, November 5, 2023.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa | Reuters
More than 100 foreign nationals left Gaza and entered Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, according to an Egyptian border official cited by CNN.
The total number of foreign passport holders evacuated from the besieged Gaza Strip for the day up to that point was 114, the official said, with an additional four wounded Palestinians allowed into Egypt for medical treatment. At least 30 more injured Palestinians are set to enter the country on Tuesday, the official added.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said earlier in the day that it would help evacuate some 7,000 foreign nationals from Gaza. When Israel launched its aerial bombardment of Gaza, there were some 600 American citizens trapped in the besieged enclave, as well as thousands more foreign nationals from roughly 60 different countries.
— Natasha Turak
Blinken: This is an important moment for G7 to address Israel crisis
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media about his meetings with Turkish counterparts, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, before departing from Ankara Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey November 6, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the G7 foreign minister talks due to take place in Tokyo over Nov. 7-8 are an important moment for the coalition to rally and address the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
“This is a very important moment as well for the G7 to come together in the face of this crisis and to speak, as we do, with one clear voice,” Blinken said, according to a statement. He was speaking with Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Youko, shortly after talks with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio.
“We appreciate the diplomatic efforts of the U.S. in the recent situation between Israel and Palestine,” Kamikawa said. “You have our utmost support.”
Representatives for the G7 — which comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., as well as the European Union — meet in Tokyo for conversations expected to touch on the growing crisis in Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Blinken arrived in Japan fresh from another whirlwind tour of the Middle East seeking to de-escalate tensions.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Israeli military strikes Hezbollah position
An Israeli tank has attacked a “terrorist squad” in Lebanese territory that attempted to launch an anti-tank missile towards Israeli territory, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said on social media, according to a Google translation.
IDF forces also attacked a position of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah “in order to remove a threat,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.
CNBC could not independently verify the developments.
Hezbollah and the IDF have exchanged fire since the early days of the Israel-Hamas war, with the Lebanese militants citing solidarity with the Palestinian people. The IDF maintains it is limiting its offensives against Hezbollah to defensive and retaliatory strikes.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Israeli minister urges condemnation of antisemitism after Paul Kessler’s death
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz urged the international community to be “unequivocal and proactive in their condemnation of terror and antisemitism,” following the death of Jewish-American Paul Kessler during a clash at dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies.
Kessler, 69, “was in a physical altercation with counter-protestor(s)” in California, U.S., the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement, according to NBC News. He fell backwards during the conflict and died on Monday.
“The murder of Jewish-American Paul Kessler should serve as a stark warning sign to the whole world,” Gantz said on social media. “Israel stands today at the forefront of the global fight against the murderous antisemitic ideology behind the Hamas terror attacks of 7.10.”
Attacks against Jewish people and antisemitic sentiments have been on the rise globally since the Oct. 7 terror attacks carried out by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent retaliatory siege of the Gaza Strip.
— Ruxandra Iordache
U.N. human rights chief begins Middle East tour
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Images
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk began a five-day visit to the Middle East to engage with government officials, civil society and U.N. staff on the regional human rights situation amid the Israel-Hamas war.
He is in Cairo on Tuesday to meet the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry. On Wednesday, he will visit the Rafah crossing — the single land passageway into the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel and the ground route for aid to the enclave.
“It has been one full month of carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair,” Türk said in an emailed statement. “Human rights violations are at the root of this escalation and human rights play a central role in finding a way out of this vortex of pain.”
He will head to Amman, Jordan, on Thursday.
— Ruxandra Iordache
UAE to set up field hospital in the Gaza Strip
The United Arab Emirates will set up a field hospital with a 150-bed capacity in the Gaza Strip to deliver essential medical treatment to Palestinian people, the country’s state-run news agency said late Monday.
Five aircrafts carrying supplies and equipment for the medical facility departed from Abu Dhabi and will unload their cargo at the al-Arish airport in Egypt, before being transported to the Gaza Strip — likely by truck, through the Rafah crossing.
Volunteers help pack aid for the Gaza Strip at a donation centre set-up by the Emirates Red Crescent in Dubai on October 21, 2023.
Karim Sahib | AFP | Getty Images
The UAE previously announced $20 million of urgent aid to the Palestinian people and an initiative to bring approximately 1,000 Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip, alongside their families, for medical treatment in the UAE.
Abu Dhabi has historically supported the cause of the Palestinian people, but notably normalized relations with Israel in 2020 through the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Israel Defense Forces said they took control of a Hamas stronghold
The Israel Defense Forces took control of a Hamas military stronghold in the northern Gaza Strip, the military said in a daily Telegram update covering the events of the past day.
A picture taken from southern Israel along the border with the Gaza Strip shows Israeli army vehicles crossing the border into Gaza, on November 6, 2023 amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Menahem Kahana | AFP | Getty Images
The IDF added that anti-tank missiles and launchers, weapons and intelligence materials were located on the site of the compound.
In addition to claiming it damaged other Hamas weapons and infrastructure, the IDF said it also targeted a cell of 10 operatives of the Palestinian militant group and separately located a number of Hamas agents who “barricaded themselves in a building adjacent to the al-Quds hospital, and planned to carry out an attack on the forces from there.”
CNBC could not independently confirm these reports.
The IDF, which says it is carrying out its air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip to eliminate the military capabilities of Hamas, has previously accused the group of using Palestinian people as shields and taking cover at or under civilian refuge and medical treatment sites.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Israeli military says it killed a top Hamas commander
The Israel Defense Forces said they killed Wael Asefa, commander of the Deir al-Balah battalion of Palestinian militant group Hamas, who was presumed involved in the terror and abduction attack of Oct. 7.
CNBC could not independently verify the report.
The IDF has repeatedly stated the official aim of its campaign in the Gaza Strip is to fully demilitarize Hamas and to kill its commanders.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Jordan open to ‘all options’ as Gaza conflict intensifies
Jordan said on Monday it was leaving “all options” open in its response to what it called Israel’s failure to discriminate between military and civilian targets in its intensifying bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh did not elaborate on what steps Jordan would take, days after it recalled its ambassador from Israel in protest at Israel’s offensive in Gaza after a cross-border Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
Jordan also announced last week that Israel’s ambassador, who left Amman shortly after Hamas’ attack, would not be allowed to come back, effectively declaring him persona non grata.
“All options are on the table for Jordan in our dealing with the Israeli aggression on Gaza and its repercussions,” Khasawneh, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, told state media.
— Reuters
Netanyahu says there will be no cease-fire until Israeli hostages are released
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that there will be no cease-fire in Gaza unless Hamas agrees to release Israeli hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz (not pictured) in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023.
Abir Sultan | Reuters
“There would be no cease-fire, general cease-fire in Gaza, without the release of our hostages,” he said in an exclusive interview with David Muir, the anchor for ABC News “World News Tonight.”
Asked if there will be a humanitarian pause if hostages are released, Netanyahu said, “There’ll be a cease-fire for that purpose. We’re waiting for that to happen. It hasn’t happened so far.”
Hamas militants currently hold about 240 hostages whom they kidnapped and brought into the Palestinian enclave on Oct. 7. Israel has has launched an air campaign and ground offensive in a bid to remove the militants who run Gaza.
On who should govern Gaza when the war is over, the prime minister said: “Those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas.” He added that Israel will have to oversee security responsibility in Gaza “for an indefinite period” in order to ensure that Hamas cannot carry out large-scale terrorism acts again.
— Joanna Tan
Jewish Voice for Peace stage a sit-in demonstration at the Statue of Liberty
Activists from the Jewish Voice for Peace staged a sit-in demonstration at the Statue of Liberty. The group has been occupying high-profile New York City locations calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace occupy the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty on November 6, 2023 in New York City.
Stephanie Keith | Getty Images
Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace occupy the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty on November 6, 2023 in New York City.
Stephanie Keith | Getty Images
Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace occupy the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty on November 6, 2023 in New York City.
Stephanie Keith | Getty Images
Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace occupy the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty on November 6, 2023 in New York City.
Stephanie Keith | Getty Images
-Stephanie Keith | Getty Images
NBC News’ inside look at Israel’s efforts to hunt and destroy Hamas’ tunnel network
A fighter from Izz al-Din al-Qassam stands in front of a tunnel during an exhibition of weapons, missiles and heavy equipment for the military wing of Hamas in the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip, during the commemoration of the 2014 war that lasted 51 days between Gaza and Israel.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
NBC News’ Raf Sanchez was given rare access to the expansive tunnel network underneath northern Gaza with the Israel Defense Force.
“We’re in big operation to seize as many tunnels as we can, to investigate them and obviously to terminate them,” IDF Lt. Col. Ariel Gonen told NBC News. “The tunnels are underneath hospitals, everything. We see that they’re under schools, under mosques,” he added.
Read the full story on NBC News.
— Amanda Macias