October 29, 2023 Israel-Hamas war news

Palestinians storm a UN-run aid supply center in Deir al-Balah on Saturday.

The United Nations World Food Programme said some of its aid supplies were looted in Gaza and warned of “growing hunger and desperation” in a news release Sunday.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said earlier Sunday that “thousands” of people had broken into some of its warehouses and distribution centers in the central and southern areas of the strip, “taking wheat flour and other basic survival items like hygiene supplies.”   

The food program said one of the warehouses was storing some of its food commodities, and supplies from humanitarian deliveries through Egypt.

The food program pointed to the “harrowing 24-hour communication blackout” and “persistent access challenges” that brought all of its operations to a halt as a result of Israel’s extensive airstrikes Saturday.

“WFP plans to provide food lifeline to over one million people who are going hungry now and needs a steady supply of food with at least 40 WFP trucks to cross daily into Gaza to be able to meet the escalating needs,” the statement said. “So far emergency food and cash assistance has reached over 635,200 people in both Gaza and the West Bank.”

The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon Sunday in response to shelling toward northern Israel from a “terrorist cell.”

The strike took place in the Har Dov area, and Israeli aircraft destroyed weapons that could have been used for further shelling, the Israel Defense Forces said via Telegram. 

Of the three launches from that area in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said it intercepted two, and the third landed in an open area. 

In addition, several launches were fired toward the Malkia area in northern Israel, but two of them were intercepted and there were no injuries, according to the IDF. 

Remember: This fighting is centered on northern Israel and southern Lebanon — separate from Israel’s fighting with Hamas farther south, which is centered around Gaza. But an uptick in clashes with Hezbollah has raised fears that the powerful Lebanese paramilitary group could actively participate in the conflict.

Hezbollah has unambiguously supported the Palestinian militants and roundly condemned Israel’s offensive in Gaza, but it has not intervened on behalf of Hamas so far.

The group has explicitly linked its attacks on Israel to the IDF’s strikes in Lebanese territory, and the fighting remains limited to this border region for now.

The United States is emphasizing the importance of protecting civilian lives in Gaza in conversations “at the highest levels” of the Israeli government, the top US national security adviser said Sunday, even as he repeatedly declined to say whether Israel was going about its war the right way.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said US President Joe Biden would speak later Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — their first known conversation since Israel expanded its ground operations in Gaza — and would reiterate the importance of distinguishing “between terrorists and civilians” as Israel conducts its operation.

The assault on Gaza has left thousands of Palestinian civilians dead and worsened the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. Aid has been slow to enter and civilians, including hundreds of Americans, have been unable to leave. While some aid has made its way to Gaza, humanitarian workers say it is a fraction of what’s required for the 2.2 million people crammed into Gaza under a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.

More than 200 hundred hostages also remain held by Hamas on the strip, according to officials, and securing their release could be complicated by the expanded operation.

Sullivan said Israel was solely responsible for its military operations. “They’re the ones making decisions, they’re the ones conducting the operations,” he said, declining to openly criticize any aspect of the new military effort.

“I’m not going to react to every strike, every move that they make,” he said.

Israel’s intentions in Gaza: Sullivan did indicate that tougher conversations were being held behind the scenes between senior US and Israeli officials — including Biden and Netanyahu — about the scope and intent of Israel’s going into Gaza.

“We’ve asked them hard questions, the same hard questions that we would ask ourselves if we were seeking to conduct an operation to take out a terrorist threat,” Sullivan said. “We’ve pressed them on questions like objectives and matching means to objectives, about both tactical and strategic issues associated with this operation.”

Sullivan said Hamas was “making life extremely difficult for Israel” by using civilians as human shields and placing its rocket infrastructure among civilian populations.

Read more on CNN about US communications with Israel about Gaza.

An explosion as seen from the Israeli border with Gaza on Sunday.

The US sees an “elevated risk” of a spillover conflict in the Middle East as Iranian proxies continue targeting American troops stationed in the region.

“We are vigilant, because we are seeing elevated threats against our forces throughout the region and an elevated risk of this conflict spreading to other parts of the region. We are doing everything in our power to deter and prevent that,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday.

Last week, the US carried out airstrikes targeting two facilities linked to Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria following a series of drone and rocket attacks against US forces in the region.

The airstrikes against the facilities linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups did not result in any casualties, the US assessed.

Asked about US strikes on Iranian proxies in the region, Sullivan said on ABC, “If attacks continue, we will respond, and I think the Iranians understand our message.”

The Israeli military is continuing ground operations in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Sunday. 

Israeli “aircraft, guided by IDF troops, struck Hamas military structures, some of which contained Hamas terrorists,” the military said. “In addition, anti-tank missile launching posts, observation posts and military infrastructure were struck.”

“Terrorists who shot at the soldiers were killed, as well as terrorists who were identified on the coastline in the Gaza Strip near the area of Zikim,” the IDF said. 

Remember: Israel says the next stage of its war with Hamas has begun after expanding its ground operations in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the second stage of the war against Hamas has begun, with the goal of destroying the group’s armed wing and government, and returning hostages held in Gaza home.

The IDF launched its offensive after the devastating October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel.

Israeli troops appear to have advanced over two miles into Gaza, according to a CNN analysis of video published by an Israeli media outlet. 

The troops in the video, taken on Saturday, are seen putting an Israeli flag on a Gaza resort hotel’s roof. CNN geolocated the video to an area just over two miles from the Gaza-Israeli border.

“Soldiers of the 52 Battalion of the 401 Brigade are waving the Israeli flag in the heart of Gaza, by the beach,” a soldier is heard saying in the video, taken several miles north of central Gaza City. “We will not forgive nor forget, and we’ll not stop until the victory.”

The video is one of the first glimpses into where Israeli ground forces have been, and what they’ve been doing, during the expanded ground operations in Gaza. 

A communications blackout in Gaza has significantly hampered the flow of information out of it, though providers said service was gradually being restored Sunday.

The video was published by Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom. CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the video, and why soldiers are installing an Israeli flag on the hotel roof. 

On the ground: A CNN team in the Israeli city of Sderot, near the Gaza Strip perimeter, heard machine gun fire at regular intervals Sunday.

The gunfire was heard from the northern part of the enclave, close to the border, while the Israel Defense Forces continued to fire artillery rounds and mortars from outside the border further south.

Earlier on Sunday, IDF tanks and armored personnel vehicles were seen approaching the border while helicopters, drones and fighter jets flew overhead.

A large column of vehicles was seen north of the strip. Staging grounds further away from the border that were full of tanks and armored vehicles just a few days ago are now nearly empty, suggesting the troops have moved closer to the perimeter.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting to this post from Sderot, Israel.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks to the crowds gathered to protest in Tehran in support of Palestinians in Gaza on October 18.

Israel has “crossed the red lines” in Gaza, which “may force everyone to take action,” Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said Sunday.

“Zionist regime’s crimes have crossed the red lines, which may force everyone to take action. Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel,” Raisi said in a post on social media. 

“The US sent messages to the Axis of Resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield,” Raisi said.  

Some context: Israel’s fierce military campaign in Gaza has raised concerns that more fronts will open up. Iran is allied to Hamas as well as Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that has been involved in tit-for-tat exchanges of fire with Israel in recent weeks.

Experts say that while Iran is wary of being dragged into the Israel-Hamas war, it may not be in full control if the militias it backs in the region independently intervene as Hamas suffers heavy blows and the death toll in Gaza continues to mount.

In the early days after the October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel, questions were raised about Iran’s potential involvement in the killings. Tehran at the time commended the operation but was quick to deny any hand in it.

Initial US intelligence also suggested that Iranian officials were surprised by Hamas’ attack, and that Tehran was not directly involved in its planning, resourcing or approval, CNN has reported.

Ten aid trucks passed inspection procedures at the Rafah border crossing and were received by the Palestinian Red Crescent on the Gazan side on Sunday, according to a CNN freelance journalist on the ground on the Egyptian side.

“Today we received 10 trucks from our brothers at the Egyptian Red Crescent through the Rafah crossing, containing food supplies and medical necessities. The total number of received trucks so far has reached 94, while fuel has not been allowed to enter yet,” the Palestinian Red Crescent said in an updated statement on Sunday afternoon.

The journalist on the ground saw a total of 40 trucks from Egypt’s National Alliance for Civil Development Work arrive on the Egyptian side of the crossing between Saturday and Sunday morning — most of which are waiting to undergo security checks before entering Gaza.

The Israeli military said Sunday it expects more aid trucks to begin entering Gaza soon.

CNN also spotted the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan at the Rafah crossing.

A key link: The Rafah crossing is the only entry point to Gaza not controlled by Israel, which has implemented a “complete siege” on the Hamas-run enclave and the more than 2 million Palestinians living there.

Some aid trucks have been able to enter Gaza through Egypt since the crisis began, as seen by CNN’s team on the Palestinian side of the border, but the main United Nations agency working in Gaza has warned the limited shipments have done little to address humanitarian needs — and that more aid is desperately needed.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it has received a warning Sunday from the Israeli military to immediately evacuate Al-Quds Hospital, the second-largest in Gaza City, ahead of possible bombardment.

The hospital is located in the Tal Al Hawa neighborhood, in Gaza City, north of Wadi Gaza – the line south of which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has urged people in Gaza to flee. 

The hospital is located in the Tal Al Hawa neighbourhood, in Gaza city, north of Wadi Gaza – the line south of which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has urged people in Gaza to flee. 

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the evacuation threat as “deeply concerning.”

“We reiterate - it’s impossible to evacuate hospitals full of patients without endangering their lives,” he added in a post on social media Sunday.

In response to questions about the Palestinian Red Crescent statement, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Maj. Nir Dinar told CNN on Sunday, “They received much more than two (warnings) for the last three weeks.” 

Al-Quds Hospital is treating hundreds of patients, including wounded people, patients in intensive care and children in incubators, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. In addition, approximately 12,000 internally displaced civilians are currently sheltering at the hospital. 

The aid organization’s management and operations teams, which are helping civilians staying in the northern Gaza Strip, are also stationed in the hospital, the organization said. 

Repeated warnings: In a statement released on October 14, the World Health Organization strongly condemned “Israel’s repeated orders” for the evacuation of 22 hospitals in northern Gaza, and said those evacuation orders are “a death sentence for the sick and injured.”

“Hospital directors and health workers are now facing an agonizing choice: abandon critically ill patients amid a bombing campaign, put their own lives at risk while remaining on site to treat patients, or endanger their patients’ lives while attempting to transport them to facilities that have no capacity to receive them,” WHO said. 

“Overwhelmingly, caregivers have chosen to stay behind, and honor their oaths as health professionals to ‘do no harm,’ rather than risk moving their critically ill patients during evacuations,” WHO said. “Health workers should never have to make such impossible choices,” it added. 

The father of a young boy from the al-Aqad family, reacts as he touches the body of his child, killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Younis, southern Gaza, before his burial on October 29.

The death toll in Gaza has risen to 7,960, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah announced on Sunday, drawing the data from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave.

The enclave has been pummelled by Israeli strikes since October 7, which has also resulted in over 20,000 injured, the ministry said. 

Nearly three-quarters – 73% – of those killed are from vulnerable populations, including children, women, and elderly individuals, according to the ministry report. 

The ministry added that the total number of dead includes 116 medical personnel. Additionally, 24 hospitals, which together have a capacity of 2,000 beds, have been instructed to evacuate in the northern part of Gaza. 

The updated figures come as Israel said the next stage of its war with Hamas had begun after it expanded its ground operations in the enclave. “The war inside Gaza is going to be long,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Saturday.

Video from the ground in central Gaza shows the aftermath of the destruction of a mosque and adjacent houses in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp on Sunday.

The video, obtained by CNN from a Gaza-based journalist, shows a large amount of destruction at the site of an airstrike at Bilal Bin Rabbah mosque and people searching through the rubble to look for survivors.  

According to medical sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, an Israeli strike hit the mosque, killing 13 people and leaving “dozens” of other people injured. 

CNN cannot independently verify the number of casualties. 

Medical sources added that the victims were from several families who were taking shelter in houses around the site of the mosque after they were displaced from northern Gaza. The mosque in Al-Nuseirat is south of Wadi Gaza.

Additional footage that CNN obtained from the journalist on the ground shows people praying over several bodies that are wrapped in shrouds outside of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, as well as some of the victims’ funerals.

Another survivor, Mohammad Ahmad, said in an interview that people from at least three families staying next to the mosque in “Block C” of the camp were killed. 

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment. 

In a statement earlier on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck more than 450 targets in the past day, including command centers, observation posts, and missile launch sites, as Israel continues to expand its ground incursion into Gaza. 

One video segment the IDF released along with its statement appears to show a missile hitting a building next to a mosque. It is not clear if that is the Bilal Ben Rabbah mosque.

The United Nations has warned that civil order is starting to break down in the besieged Gaza Strip, with thousands breaking into warehouses to take basic supplies including wheat flour and hygiene products.

“People are scared, frustrated and desperate,” said Thomas White, director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) affairs in the Gaza Strip.  

Below are the latest developments…

The Israeli military said Sunday it expects more aid trucks to begin entering Gaza soon, and denied that there were shortages of food, water or medicine, despite the complete closure Israel imposed on the territory in response to the October 7 Hamas attack.

Israel has set up a joint mechanism with the United Nations, the United States and Egypt to “facilitate the access of humanitarian assistance from Egypt to Gaza,” said Colonel Elad Goren, head of the Civil Affairs Department for COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), at a press briefing on Sunday.

Despite a growing chorus of aid agencies that have released dire warnings about shortages of food, water and medical supplies, Goren stated there was “no food shortage in Gaza,” and insisted there was also enough water and medicine.

A US official who spoke on background regarding private conversations with Israeli officials questioned those assertions.

The main UN agency in Gaza reported Sunday that “thousands” of people had broken into some of its warehouses, “taking wheat flour and other basic survival items like hygiene supplies.”

Director Thomas White warned that “civil order is starting to break down” as people are “scared, frustrated and desperate.”

Three Palestinian men were killed in Israeli military incursions into the West Bank overnight, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Sunday.

That brings the number of Palestinians killed in the territory since October 7 to 114. The Ministry announced the deaths of three men in a short post on its Facebook page.

Some context: Tensions, which were already high before the Hamas attack, have been boiling over in the occupied West Bank, where residents previously told CNN they are fearful of a wave of violence from the Israeli military and security forces, as well as revenge attacks by the estimated 700,000 Israeli settlers living in the area.

Violence has been particularly acute this year, with the number of Palestinians – militants and civilians – killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces since the year began at its highest in nearly two decades.

Palestinians storm a UN-run aid supply center, that distributes food to displaced families following Israel's call for more than one million residents in northern Gaza to move south for their safety, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on October 28.

The main United Nations agency in Gaza has warned civil order is breaking down, saying “thousands” of people have broken into some of its warehouses “taking wheat flour and other basic survival items like hygiene supplies.” 

One of the warehouses in the city of Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, is where the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) stores supplies from humanitarian convoys coming from Egypt, the agency said in a statement. 

“Tensions and fear are made worse by the cuts in the phones and internet communication lines. They feel that they are on their own, cut off from their families inside Gaza and the rest of the world,” White added. 

The “massive” displacement of people from northern Gaza to the south “has placed enormous pressure on those communities, adding further burden on crumbling public services,” the agency said. Some families have received as many as 50 relatives who are taking shelter in one household, it said. 

Just over 80 trucks of aid have crossed into Gaza in one week so far, and on Saturday there was no convoy due to the blackout in communications, the agency said. 

“The current system of convoys is geared to fail. Very few trucks, slow processes, strict inspections, supplies that do not match the requirements of UNRWA and the other aid organizations, and mostly the ongoing ban on fuel, are all a recipe for a failed system,” White said. 

Following the restoration of internet services, UNRWA teams in Gaza “will reassess the situation with the aim of resuming convoys and distribution of assistance,” the agency said. 

Israel Defense Forces continued their campaign of heavy bombing against the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning, combining artillery strikes with air power and tanks.

A CNN team on the ground on the edge of the closed military zone, about a kilometer from the border, heard constant explosions and sporadic machine gunfire on Sunday morning.

The IDF was firing artillery rounds and mortars from outside the border to the east, while machine gunfire was heard from within the Gaza Strip.

Drones, helicopters and F-16 fighter jets were seen flying overhead.

The IDF said that helicopters, under the direction of IDF tanks, were striking Hamas targets in the north of the Gaza Strip.

The CNN team also saw a column of military vehicles, tanks and armored personnel carriers moving towards the northern border of the enclave.

Artificial smoke has been seen billowing from near the perimeter, likely intended to obscure the visibility from across the border.

IDF soldiers stationed by an artillery position about three kilometers east of the Gaza Strip told CNN there has been regular incoming fire coming from Gaza towards Israel as Hamas continues to launch rockets even after three weeks of continuous IDF strikes against its infrastructure in the enclave.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Representative and Country Director for Palestine Samer Abdeljaber told CNN that 40 more aid trucks are expected to enter Gaza on Sunday amid a worsening humanitarian situation.

“We hope today we will be able to allow more trucks into Gaza – 40 trucks are expected to be crossing. However, we have to also note that that’s not enough compared to the soaring needs… at the moment in Gaza, we need more than that,” Abdeljaber said.

The trucks going into the strip include food, water and medical supplies, but not fuel, according to Abdeljaber.

Abdeljaber went on to say that the blackout that happened with telecommunication over the weekend presented a “major challenge” for the World Food Programme. 

“We couldn’t coordinate on the ground to facilitate for the trucks to go in,” he said.

Communications in the enclave – including cellular and internet connectivity – were partially restored on Sunday morning, according to two service providers and a monitoring group.

Smoke rises as Israeli forces on the border shell many parts of Gaza on October 28.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck more than 450 targets over the past day, including command centers, observation posts, and missile launch sites, as Israel steps up its operation in Gaza, according to a statement Sunday.

Additionally, the IDF said an officer was severely injured by a mortar shell in the northern Gaza Strip and was evacuated for medical treatment.

Some context: Gazans described Friday night’s intense bombardment as the most intense round of airstrikes since Israel began its retaliation of the October 7 Hamas attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Saturday that the second phase of the war had begun, as his forces aim to “destroy” Hamas, in what will be a “long” war.

Communications in Gaza were partially restored on Sunday morning, according to two service providers and a monitoring group.

Palestine Telecommunications (Paltel) announced in a post on its Facebook page that land line, cellular and internet connectivity were gradually being restored after being severely disrupted on Friday evening. 

The Jawwal Telecommunication Company also announced Sunday that its telecommunication services were “gradually being restored.”

In a separate update posted on X (formerly Twitter), the internet monitoring organization NetBlocks said that internet traffic was being restored in Gaza.

Qatari-owned telecommunications company Ooredoo, which also provides cellular service in Gaza, did not provide an update on any resumption of service.

Destruction in northern Gaza after Israeli airstrikes is pictured on October 28.

Israeli ground forces are inside Gaza after entering the enclave overnight, as Palestinians experienced what they have described as the most intense round of airstrikes since Israel began its retaliation against Hamas’ October 7 terror attack.

The expanded operation has left families of the more than 200 hostages taken to Gaza fearful for their loved ones. A group lobbying for the families of Israeli hostages spoke of “the most terrible of all nights” as emotions spiked with the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) expansion of its ground operation.

Catch up below on the latest developments in the war:

Israel’s goals in this stage: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Saturday the war in Gaza is “going to be long.” He said the goals of this stage of the war are to destroy Hamas and return the hostages the militant group took on October 7 and still holds in Gaza. Netanyahu confirmed he spoke with family members of the hostages and said he vowed to them that he would exhaust all options to return their loved ones home.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement his country had entered “a new phase in the war.” The official said Israel “attacked above ground and below ground. We attacked terrorist operatives at all levels, in all places. The instructions to our forces are clear: the operation will continue until a new order is given.”

Details on the expanded ground operation: Israeli forces “went into the Gaza Strip and expanded the ground operation where infantry, armor and engineer units and artillery with heavy fire are taking part,” IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Saturday morning. “The forces are in the field and continue the fighting,” he added, without giving further details.

Hagari’s words confirm the military operation has undergone a significant expansion after what it had earlier described as two “targeted raids,” which took place on Wednesday night and Thursday night. Both those raids saw ground forces withdraw after a few hours. However, it does not appear as though any major ground offensive aimed at seizing and holding significant amounts of the territory is yet underway. In a fresh call for Gazans to move south, the IDF spoke of an “impending” operation.

Mourning in Gaza: Gazans mourned the loss of their loved ones on Saturday following a night of intense Israeli airstrikes, with many gathering at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah in central Gaza. Video captured by CNN shows multiple bodies, including those of children, covered in white shrouds or thick blankets, placed on the ground in the hospital yard. Another video showed a young man lying on the floor of the hospital as doctors operated on him.

More than 2 million people live in the enclave, and for weeks people in the territory have faced Israeli airstrikes and a growing humanitarian situation, with shortages of water, food and fuel. The IDF said Gazans who had moved south of Wadi Gaza, a waterway bisecting the center of the strip, were in a “protected space,” and would receive more food, water and medicine today, but did not give any details.

Aid agencies lose contact: Communications in the enclave have been severely disrupted, leaving aid agencies out of touch with their staff on the ground and emergency services struggling to reach those in need. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday morning that reports of the intense bombardment are “extremely distressing.” He added: “We are still out of touch with our staff and health facilities. I’m worried about their safety.” Several United Nations agencies have also reported losing contact with their local staff in Gaza.

People mourn Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 28.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has called for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities in Gaza and delivery of humanitarian aid.

Spoljaric added that the “immediate imperative must be to save lives” by ensuring healthcare services, water, and electricity are restored in Gaza.

“Under international humanitarian law, the parties are obligated to spare civilians from the effects of military operations at all times, to distinguish between civilians and military targets, and to never use human shields to prevent military objectives from being attacked,” Spoljaric said.

The ICRC also called for the “immediate release of all hostages” and reiterated the organization’s previous offer to facilitate any future hostage release operation. 

Israeli tanks and troops move near the border with Gaza in Sderot, Israel, on October 28.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday drew a connection between the conflict with Hamas and the Arab-Israeli War between 1947 and 1949, which occurred as Israel declared its independence.

“The war inside Gaza is going to be long. This is our second independence war. We’re going to save our country,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu said the second stage of the war against Hamas has begun, with the goal of destroying the group’s armed wing and government, and returning hostages held in Gaza home.

Netanyahu also confirmed he spoke with the family of hostages held by Hamas and vowed to them that he would exhaust all options to return their loved ones.

Families of hostages held in Gaza say they told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu they would only accept an “everyone in return for everyone” deal, which would secure the immediate release of all hostages.

The families held a news conference shortly after meeting Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Saturday, just before the prime minister held his own media briefing, where he announced the launch of the second stage of the war in Gaza.

An “everyone for everyone” deal would involve the release of the over 200 hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians currently held in Israeli prisons, which the nongovernmental organization Palestinian Prisoners Club estimates to be 6,630 people.

Hamas released a statement Saturday claiming the group was willing to engage in such a trade, though any such deal would be hugely controversial in Israel.

Speaking Saturday, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari characterized Hamas’ most recent hostage exchange overture a form of “psychological terror aimed to manipulate Israeli civilians.”

Netanyahu was asked about such a deal at his Saturday news conference, and acknowledged he discussed the option with the families.

“I think that elaborating on this will not help achieve our goal. In the meeting with the families, I felt emotionally helpless,” Netanyahu said.

As the efforts to free the hostages drag on, loved ones have also expressed alarm at the possibility Hamas’ captives will be harmed in Israel’s intensifying bombardment of Gaza.

Elon Musk, billionaire and chief executive officer of Tesla, at the Viva Tech fair in Paris, France, on June 16.

Israel vowed to fight Elon Musk’s pledge to provide aid organizations in Gaza with Starlink satellite service as the besieged strip struggles with internet connectivity.

Israeli Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Hamas “will use it for terrorist activities.”

“Perhaps Musk would be willing to condition it with the release of our abducted babies, sons, daughters, elderly people. All of them! By then, my office will cut any ties with starlink,” Karhi posted.

Musk made the announcement on X, which he owns, after US Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that “cutting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable.”

In another post replying to another X account, Musk said, “No terminals from Gaza have attempted to communicate with our constellation.”

Communications in the Gaza Strip have been severely disrupted as Israel intensifies its air and ground assault on the region. Aid groups say they have been unable to communicate with teams in the area. 

Earlier, the World Health Organization said they are “out of touch” with its staff in Gaza and the commissioner general of the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees wrote to staff on Saturday saying that the organization is “deeply worried” about them amid the blackout. 

Israel’s military chief said today marks a new stage in the country’s war against Hamas, and that it requires a ground offensive.

“This is a war with multiple stages. Today, we move to the next one,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, said in a video released by the IDF. “Our forces are currently operating on the ground in the Gaza Strip. These activities are being supported by precise and heavy fire, all in service of the war’s objectives: dismantling Hamas, securing our borders and the supreme effort to return the hostages home.”

More context: A ground offensive in Gaza has been widely expected following the October 7 attacks in Israel by Hamas, but it does not appear as though any major operation aimed at seizing and holding significant amounts of the territory is yet underway.

On the ground: Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday that it had struck several Hamas targets in Gaza as part of its expanded ground operation in the strip. 

“Since early Friday evening, combined combat forces of armor, combat engineers and infantry have been operating on the ground in the northern Gaza Strip. As part of the operation, IDF soldiers identified terrorist cells attempting to launch anti-tank missiles and mortar shells and struck them. IDF soldiers also identified and destroyed a booby-trapped structure,” the IDF said in a release.

The IDF said that helicopters, under the direction of IDF tanks, struck a building being used by Hamas as an operational meeting point.

The military also said that Israeli soldiers “neutralized” several terrorist cells that attempted to fire anti-tank missiles at them. Forces also struck Hamas members who were located in what was described as a “booby-trapped structure.”

Gaza civilians say they endured the heaviest airstrikes of the conflict so far overnight, taking shelter from the bombardment and mourning those killed in hospitals. A communications blackout has disrupted emergency services and cut off contact between family members.

Settlements and workplaces are heavily damaged as Israeli attacks continue on Gaza on October 28.

A near total communications blackout has impacted the work of medical staff in Gaza, with paramedics unable to reach the injured and hospitals unable to contact each other.

Dr. Mohamad Al-Rayan, a physician at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, said medics have faced delays in getting to people injured by Israeli airstrikes overnight. 

He told CNN that hospitals in Gaza had also lost contact with one another, making the transfer of patients needing specialist surgery between hospitals even harder. 

A journalist in central Gaza told CNN that Israeli artillery shelling “did not stop” on Saturday. Video filmed by Hassan Eslayeh showed ambulances and cars arriving at the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, with crowds of people waiting outside the hospital entrance. Another video showed a young man lying on the floor of the hospital as doctors operated on him.

Eslayeh said the injured and dead being brought to the hospital were casualties of artillery shelling rather than airstrikes.

Families unable to speak: CNN’s producer in Gaza, Ibrahim Dahman, said he is struggling to contact relatives in the enclave in the face of the blackout. 

“I cannot reach them, and I don’t know anything about them,” Dahman said in one of several short voice recordings sent to CNN colleagues on Saturday using a phone with a foreign SIM card, which allows him intermittent connection via WhatsApp. 

Since fleeing Gaza City with his wife and children on October 9, Dahman has been using WhatsApp to communicate with friends, family and colleagues. 

Now he says “there is no internet throughout the whole of the Gaza Strip” – another cause for concern for him and the other families he is sheltering alongside in the southern city of Khan Younis. 

“Everybody is gloomy, everybody is scared. … This is a big, big shock to everyone,” Dahman said. 

Jawwal and Ooredoo, two mobile phone companies operating in Gaza, and Paltel, a fixed-line operator, said in separate statements Saturday that their services in the strip remained down.