December 26, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas has moved here.

Ron Dermer walks into the Executive Office Building in Washington, DC on December 26.

An hours-long meeting between senior Biden administration officials and a close confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the next phase of the Israel-Hamas conflict wrapped on Tuesday evening. 

Ron Dermer, a member of Israel’s war cabinet and a former ambassador to the United States, departed the White House after more than four hours following a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

A White House official told CNN the discussions included:

US officials have looked for Israel to move away from the high intensity war it has waged for nearly three months in Gaza that has resulted in more than 20,000 people killed.

The White House told reporters last week that Israel had assured the US it would transition to operations of lower intensity, although the administration would not put a specific timeline on the move.

Some context: A senior Israeli official told CNN on Tuesday that while there are differences between the US and Israel over Israel’s war with Hamas, both countries want to see the end of the militant group.

“We can have different discussions on this tactical issue or that tactical issue. We listen very attentively to whatever Washington says, and I believe they listen very carefully to whatever we say to them,” said Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Netanyahu. “But ultimately, we’re on the same side of this. We want to see Hamas destroyed.” 

The United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons said Israel is “working to expel” the civilian population of Gaza. 

“Israel is seeking to permanently alter the composition of Gaza’s population with ever-expanding evacuation orders and widespread and systematic attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructures” in southern Gaza, Paula Gaviria Betancur said Friday, according to a news release from the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR).  

Betancur said Israel reneged on its promises of safety in southern Gaza through its evacuation orders urging Palestinians to evacuate from northern to southern part of the enclave, according to the release. 

People now have been forcibly displaced again along with the population of southern Gaza, Betancur stated. Since October 7 when the conflict began, 85% percent of Gaza’s population has been internally displaced, the release said. 

Israeli government spokesperson, Eylon Levy, responded to the UN report on his official X platform, asserting that Israel had designated the Al-Muwasi area as a humanitarian zone prior to the ground offensive, urging Gazan civilians to temporarily evacuate there for their safety. 

He criticized the UN’s failure to condemn Hamas for launching rockets at Israeli communities from within the humanitarian zone, emphasizing the imperative to protect civilians from Hamas. Levy added that those promoting the mass displacement of Gazans were individuals falsely labeling them as “refugees” and supporting violent struggle over peaceful coexistence with Israel.

According to the OHCHR, the special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons is an independent human rights expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

A Israeli army convoy moves near the Israel-Gaza border, in southern Israel, on December 25.

Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant said the country is in a “multi-arena war,” with it being attacked from multiple different sectors. He warned of a long fight ahead, while also saying that anyone who acts against Israel is “a potential target.”

Gallant’s comments in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Israeli parliament follow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks Monday that the war is far from over, after the Israeli leader visited Gaza for the second time since October 7.

Meanwhile on the diplomatic front, a close confidant of Netanyahu is meeting with US Secretary of State Tony Blinken and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan Tuesday as the White House has looked for Israel to move away from the high intensity war it has waged in Gaza. A senior Israeli official told CNN that while there are differences between the US and Israel over the war, both countries want to see the end of Hamas.

Here are other key developments you should know:

The terminally ill mother of a kidnapped Israeli woman wrote a letter to US President Joe Biden on Sunday pleading for his help to secure the release of her daughter. 

In the letter, Liora Argamani said that, before she dies of brain cancer, she wants to see her daughter, Noa Argamani — who was abducted at the Nova music festival on October 7. 

“I am terminally ill with Stage 4 brain cancer. All that’s running through my mind before I part ways with my family forever is the chance to hug my daughter, my only child, one last time,” Argamani wrote.

Argamani said that she was “devastated” by her daughter’s situation. 

Argamani wrote that Biden has been “instrumental” in bringing some of Israeli hostages home to their families. 

“It’s Christmas now, and I would like to request from you, Mr. President, as a present, to see my daughter again before I leave this world,” Argamani said, noting that she is aware “how important family is” for Biden personally, and what an “incredible bond” he has with his children. 

“My daughter Noa is a contagiously happy and resilient young woman. She loves to dance, loves music, loves being with her friends and family. She deserves to be back where she belongs, pursuing her dreams, surrounded by love and care. She deserves to see her mother alive one last time,” Argamani said. 

The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Doha, Qatar, on November 29.

The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, engaged in discussions with US President Joe Biden in a phone call Tuesday to assess the ongoing developments in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, Qatari state news agency QNA reported.

According to the statement, the leaders emphasized the significance of joint mediation efforts “to calm the situation and reach a permanent ceasefire.”

The White House noted in a readout of the call that the leaders spoke about efforts to “secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas.”

“The two leaders discussed the urgent effort to secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, including American citizens. The leaders also discussed the ongoing efforts to facilitate increased and sustained flows of life-saving access to humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the readout said.

This post has been updated with the White House readout on the call.

Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad rejected a plan proposed by Egypt to end the war in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported on Monday, citing two Egyptian security sources.

Two officials from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad denied the information the Egyptian sources provided, Reuters reported. 

Egypt’s proposal would see the release of all Israeli hostages and Palestinians prisoners and, ultimately, the relinquishment of Hamas’ power and “the establishment of a technocratic government in Gaza,” CNN political and foreign policy analyst Barak Ravid reported. 

CNN has not independently obtained a copy of the plan.

Reuters reported that Egyptian sources said that Hamas and Islamic Jihad “rejected offering any concessions beyond the possible release of more hostages seized on Oct. 7.”

Izzat Al-Rishq, member of Hamas political bureau, said in a statement that Hamas did not have information about the Reuters report. 

“Hamas leadership seeks a permanent cessation to the aggression and massacres against our people. Our people want to see this aggression completely halted, and do not want to wait for a temporary or partial truce for a short period, after which the aggression and terrorism might fatally continue,” Al-Rishq’s statement continued. 

CNN has reached out to Egyptian officials for comment on the reported plan.

Netherlands Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag addresses a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, on February 17.

Netherlands Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag will resign from her post to become the United Nations’ new special humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, Kaag said in a statement on X.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced earlier on Tuesday Kaag’s appointment as senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, according to a statement.

The appointment comes after the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2720 last Friday on the ongoing crisis in Gaza, with 13 voting in favor and the US and Russia abstaining following days of marathon talks.

The resolution among other things calls for immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip.

The resolution also created Kaag’s new role, calling for the appointment of a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator responsible for “facilitating, coordinating, monitoring, and verifying” humanitarian relief in Gaza.

It also calls for the creation of a UN mechanism to accelerate the movement of aid, which so far has been far from sufficient for the enclave’s population of over two million. 

Kaag will be responsible for establishing this mechanism with the support of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), according to the UN statement.

Kaag is due to begin her assignment on January 8, 2024.

More on the official: Kaag has held multiple high-level governmental and international roles. She served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands, as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and was also the first female Minister of Finance in the Dutch government among other roles, the UN statement says.

Communications and internet services in the Gaza Strip are fully down, three Palestinian internet providers announced on Tuesday in statements posted on their social media accounts.

Internet monitoring site Netblocks told CNN on Wednesday that the network data indicated a new collapse in connectivity in the Gaza Strip.

“Our telemetry confirms a new disruption in connectivity in the Gaza Strip — today’s incident is consistent with previous internet and telecoms blackouts and, as in past incidents, is likely to leave most residents offline. Even when there’s some connectivity, service remains significantly below pre-conflict levels,” Netblocks told CNN in a written statement. 

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in Gaza, as seen from southern Israel, on December 26.

The Israel Defense Forces is using its ground, air, and naval troops to strike at what it says are “terror targets” in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the military on Tuesday.

“As part of assistance to the ground troops, dozens of IDF fighter jets struck over 100 Hamas terror targets, including tunnel shafts, infrastructure, and military sites used by the terrorist organization to attack IDF troops,” it said Tuesday.

The statement comes as Ron Dermer, considered one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants, is meeting with officials from the White House and the State Department Tuesday to discuss the next phase of the war in Gaza. The US has looked for Israel to move away from the high-intensity war it has waged for nearly three months in Gaza.

More than 20,900 people in Gaza have been killed and 55,000 injured since October 7, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza.

CNN cannot independently verify the numbers released by the ministry in Gaza, as access to the enclave is limited and reliable numbers are hard to confirm amid the fighting. 

A senior Israeli official told CNN that while there are differences between the US and Israel over Israel’s war with Hamas, both countries want to see the end of the the militant group.

Ron Dermer, considered one of Netanyahu’s closest confidants, is expected to meet with officials from the White House and the State Department Tuesday to discuss the next phase of the war in Gaza, CNN has reported. The meetings come as the US has looked for Israel to move away from the high-intensity war it has waged for nearly three months in Gaza. 

Regev said “it’s only a matter of time” before Israel has victory in northern Gaza, arguing that reconstruction in the enclave can’t happen until Hamas is eliminated.

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv on December 18.

Israel’s defense minister has said the country is in a “multi-arena war,” with Israel being attacked from seven arenas.

Yoav Gallant, while speaking to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Israeli parliament, warned of a long fight ahead of the country.

“We are in a multi-arena war, we are being attacked from seven different sectors: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran,” said Gallant, using the biblical names — Judea and Samaria — for the West Bank.

“We have already responded and acted in six of these decrees, and I say here in the most explicit way: Anyone who acts against us is a potential target, there is no immunity for anyone,” he added.

Gallant’s comments follow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks Monday that the war is far from over, after the Israeli leader visited Gaza for the second time since October 7.

The Indian navy has deployed three guided missile destroyers in the Arabian Sea as a deterrent after a chemical tanker was struck off the Indian coast on Saturday, India’s NDTV reported. 

The navy inspected the vessel, MV Chem Pluto, which docked in Mumbai on Monday, and analysis of the assault pointed to a drone attack, NDTV cited an Indian navy spokesperson as saying. The navy has also deployed long-range patrol aircraft for surveillance. 

The United States has blamed Iran for the attack. The Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated tanker was struck by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran, a US Department of Defense official told CNN. 

Iran denied the accusation, with foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani saying at a briefing on Monday that the claim was “baseless,” according to Reuters.  

On Tuesday, two explosions in the Red Sea were reported by a vessel sailing off the coast of Yemen shortly after two unmanned aircraft were sighted, Reuters reported, citing the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British maritime authority. 

The explosions occurred around 5 miles from the vessel in an area of the Red Sea 50 miles from the port of Hodeidah on Yemen’s west coast, it said, adding that the vessel was in contact with coalition forces and that the ship and crew had been reported safe. 

A mass funeral is seen at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza on Monday.

Officials from the World Health Organization visited Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza on Monday, where scores of people are being treated, including many from reported airstrikes on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp.

In response to a CNN inquiry Sunday, the IDF said it had received reports of an incident in the Al-Maghazi camp and was “reviewing the incident.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X on Monday that staff at Al-Aqsa had reported receiving around 100 casualties. He said the WHO team at the facility had heard “harrowing accounts shared by health workers and victims of the suffering caused by the explosions.”

Tedros emphasized that the hospital is above capacity and warned that “many will not survive the wait.”

Sean Casey, a WHO emergency medical teams coordinator, described in a video posted by Tedros watching a 9-year-old boy die due to brain damage he suffered after being wounded by shrapnel in a building explosion. Casey said the only way Al-Aqsa hospital workers could help the child was to sedate him “to ease his suffering as he dies,” because the facility didn’t have the capacity to treat complex neurological cases. Casey said the operating theaters at Al-Aqsa were working 24 hours a day, yet people were still waiting hours and even days for treatment.

Dozens reported dead: At least 70 were killed in Al-Maghazi, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported on Monday. At least 250 were killed and 500 injured in the past 24 hours in the central Gaza areas of Bureij, Nuseirat and Al Maghazi, the Hamas-run ministry added. CNN cannot independently verify the numbers released by the ministry in Gaza, as access to the enclave is limited and reliable numbers are hard to confirm amid the fighting. 

Responding to a CNN inquiry about the deaths, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Monday: “In response to Hamas’ barbaric attacks, the IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities.” 

Visits across the strip: WHO and its humanitarian partners visited several hospitals across Gaza over the weekend. Among them was the Al-Shifa hospital in the north, which Tedros called Sunday “a microcosm of the nightmare playing out across Gaza, where drastic shortages of medicines, food, power, water and – above all – safety imperil the population.”

Israel has focused a huge amount of attention on Gaza’s hospitals since it began its offensive in Gaza in October, claiming Hamas uses medical facilities for military purposes and showing what it says are underground Hamas tunnels below them, claims CNN cannot verify.

Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, has been heavily damaged during the fighting. Israel alleged that Hamas had built a large-scale command and control center under the facility, a charge the militant group has denied. CNN last month visited an exposed tunnel shaft in the Al-Shifa hospital compound under IDF media escort. The tunnel shaft extended down farther than CNN’s reporter could see, especially in the meager light of headlamps.

Israel’s war in Gaza “will be a long fight” and is far from ending, the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, after he returned from a trip to the enclave. 

It comes a day after Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s commitment to the war effort, saying the military was “intensifying” operations inside the strip. 

At least 250 people were killed and 500 others injured over the past 24 hours in central Gaza, the strip’s Hamas-controlled health ministry said Monday. More than 20,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in early October.

Here’s what you need to know:

Ron Dermer attends an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 6, 2021.

A close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with Biden administration officials on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the plans, after the Israeli leader vowed a “long fight” ahead in the war in Gaza.

Ron Dermer, considered one of Netanyahu’s closest allies, is expected to meet with officials from the White House and the State Department to discuss the next phase of the war in Gaza, the source told CNN.

Dermer is a member of Israel’s war cabinet who previously served as ambassador to the United States.

He is expected to meet with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and members of Congress, according to Axios, which first reported the meetings.

The National Security Council told CNN they do not have any meetings to announce “at this time.”

The expected meetings come as the White House has looked for Israel to move away from the high intensity war it has waged for nearly three months in Gaza that has resulted in approximately 20,000 people killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Healthy in Ramallah, which draws its data from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Last week, the White House told reporters that Israel has assured the United States that it would transition to operations of lower intensity, though the administration would not put a specific timeline on the transition. US officials previously told CNN they expect Israel could shift its tactics to more localized operations by January.

Netanyahu vowed Monday that the war in Gaza was still a “long fight and it is not close to ending.” After his second visit to Gaza since the war began on October 7, Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel would “deepen the fighting.”

An undated photograph showing Seyyed Razi Mousavi. 

Iran and several of its armed proxies on Monday vowed to retaliate against Israel following the alleged assassination of a senior Islamic Revolution Guards Corps commander in Syria. 

IRGC commander Seyyed Razi Mousavi was killed Monday in an Israeli airstrike that targeted him a Damascus suburb, Iran’s state-run IRNA reported, citing a statement from IRGC public relations.

The IDF declined to comment on the report when asked by CNN.

The IRGC vowed to avenge his killing, saying “the Israeli regime would undoubtedly pay the price for this crime.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also warned Israel of repercussions, saying: “Tel Aviv should expect a tough countdown.”

Israel has for years targeted what it calls Iran-linked positions in Syria, where the IRGC, an elite wing of the Iranian military, has a significant presence.

According to IRNA, Mousavi was serving as a military adviser in Syria. His alleged assassination comes at a time of heightened regional tensions over Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, which has led to fears of a wider conflict.

Iran’s warnings of retaliation were echoed Monday by Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Iran-linked al-Nujaba Resistance Movement in Iraq.

In a statement Monday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad condemned Mousavi’s killing and said he “had a fundamental and pivotal role in supporting the resistance forces in the region, and supporting the Palestinian people, their resistance and their cause.”

Smoke billows over Khan Younis during an Israeli bombardment on December 25.

Egypt on Sunday proposed a three-phase plan to end the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, according to various media reports, but it is unclear how the warring parties will receive it.

Israel’s war cabinet convened Monday, and among other topics, they were expected to discuss ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages, an Israeli official told CNN. The source would not acknowledge the reported Egyptian proposal.

Egypt’s three-phase deal would “secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza,” CNN Political and Foreign Policy Analyst Barak Ravid reports, citing two Israeli sources. CNN has not independently obtained a copy of the plan.

Last week, Hamas said Palestinian factions would not agree to any talks about prisoner swaps until after Israel ends its military operation in Gaza.

The three-phase plan is also outlined by Israeli and other international news outlets, citing various officials and diplomatic sources.

CNN has reached out to Egyptian officials for comment on the reported plan.

Tamar Michaelis contributed to this report.

As deadly fighting between Israel and Hamas continues, so too does a dire humanitarian crisis in the area.

At least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel and, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza after Hamas launched unprecedented attacks on Israel October 7. Subsequent airstrikes have overwhelmed local hospitals and internally displaced an estimated one million people in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas on Earth.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is calling for the protection of aid workers, civilians, and critical infrastructure. Calling the situation “horrific,” Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is urging restraint after medical facilities have been destroyed in the fighting.

Impact Your World has gathered a list of vetted organizations that are on the ground responding. You can support their work by clicking HERE.

Benjamin Netanyahu receives a security briefing with commanders and soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip, on December 25.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was interrupted by shouts from family members of hostages as he spoke during a special session of parliament Monday.

The families held posters and signs with the photos and names of their loved ones.

Netanyahu, who had just returned from a trip to Gaza, said a brigade commander on the ground told the prime minister that troops needed more time on location to complete their operation.

At this time, the families began vocalizing their dissent, saying “There is no time.”

As Netanyahu resumed his comments, families could be heard chanting loudly: “Now! Now! Now!”

Citing previous interactions with families of fallen Israeli soldiers, Netanyahu said he was told: “Our sons did not die in vain. We must not stop the war until we secure the complete victory over those who wish us dead.”

At this point, the family members in the gallery of the Knesset reiterated their chants, saying: “Everyone — now! Everyone — now!”

Signs the family members held up said, “We trust you to bring them home,” and “80 days, each minute is like hell.”

Another sign asked, “What if this were your daughter,” and rotated between “daughter,” “father,” and “brother.”

Key context: There are 129 hostages still in Gaza, according to the prime minister’s office. Of those, 22 are known to be dead.