October 20, 2023 - Israel-Hamas war news

A convoy of trucks carrying aid supplies line up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on October 20.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday he expected to see the Rafah border crossing open for humanitarian aid to Gaza soon.

During a news conference at the State Department, Blinken said the US has been working relentlessly with former Ambassador David Satterfield, who was tapped by US President Joe Biden as the special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues on the ground, as well as the United Nations, Egypt and Israel to put Biden’s proposed plan into motion.

The Rafah crossing has not opened for desperately-needed humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, and President Joe Biden told reporters it could still be 24-48 hours until it enters.

In this handout photo provided by the Israeli government, American hostages Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie Raanan, are seen following their release on Friday, October 20, 2023.

The US welcomes the release of two Americans held hostage by Hamas and “shares in the relief that their families, friends and loved ones are feeling,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a briefing Friday.

“But there are still 10 additional Americans who remain unaccounted for in this conflict,” Blinken continued, adding that they are among an estimated 200 others from various countries being held in Gaza, including men, women, elderly people and children.

Blinken said “the urgent work to free every single American, to free all other hostages, continues.”

The top US diplomat said that during his recent travel to Israel, he met with loved ones of US citizens captured by Hamas. US President Joe Biden also “had the opportunity to hear directly from the families,” he said.

Israeli tanks move along the Israel-Gaza border on October 18.

The Israel Defense Forces are preparing for the “next stages” in the fight against Hamas as the conflict continues, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Friday.

“The top priority of the country is to return all the abductees and locating the missing, in all possible ways: civil, intelligence and military,” Hagari said during a news conference in Tel Aviv. 

Hagari’s response came after he was asked a question about further negotiations on the release of hostages, saying the IDF is making a “great effort and prioritizing the return of all the hostages.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks on Friday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is delivering remarks to the media following Hamas’ release of two American hostages.

The released Americans — a mother and her 17-year-old daughter — are from the Chicago area and had been visiting relatives in Nahal Oz, a farming community in southern Israel, when they were taken, according to their family.

Displaced Palestinians evacuate from northern and central Gaza on Friday, October 13.

Israel telling more than a million Palestinians to evacuate out of Gaza was “designed to end the question of the Palestinian right to return of the Palestinian refugees,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told CNN’s Becky Anderson.

Last week, Israel’s military told 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes immediately, as it appeared to prepare to ramp up fighting against Hamas — which the United Nations and several humanitarian groups sharply criticized.

When asked if there was a possibility that the Palestinian Authority (PA) might take over governing Gaza if Israel succeeds in destroying Hamas, Shtayyeh said: “We will not go to Gaza on an Israeli tank,” meaning they did not want Israel’s war on Hamas to be the PA’s path to leadership in Gaza.

Shtayyeh also said there needs to be a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue in both Gaza and the West Bank, and that a piecemeal approach would not work.  

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) helped facilitate the release of two American hostages on Friday by transporting them from Gaza to Israel, the organization said, calling their release a “sliver of hope.”

The organization also said it was “ready to visit the remaining hostages and to facilitate any future release following an agreement reached by the parties.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres inspects relief supplies at Egypt's El Arish International Airport before his visit to the Rafah border crossing on Friday.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres wants to ensure the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has enough fuel to distribute humanitarian aid shipments by truck to Gaza, deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said Friday.

Haq also pointed out that the secretary-general made it clear: “He called for a humanitarian ceasefire, but he does want the humanitarian ceasefire to be a condition for the aid.”

Speaking during a news conference earlier on Friday on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, Guterres emphasized the critical importance of delivering aid to the Gaza Strip.

According to the UN, 219 trucks are currently waiting at the Rafah border crossing, including 15 belonging to the Egyptian Red Crescent and 104 that contain aid originating from other countries.

US President Joe Biden spoke Friday morning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following up on humanitarian assistance plans agreed to earlier this week in Tel Aviv and discussing hostage relief efforts, the White House said.  

They also discussed “ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas – including US citizens –and to provide for safe passage for U.S. citizens and other civilians in Gaza,” the readout said.  

The leaders and their teams have been in close contact since Hamas first attacked Israel on October 7. Biden met with Netanyahu on Wednesday in Tel Aviv, and the two spoke on October 8; 10 and 11.

Rabbi Meir Hecht gives remarks on the release of American hostages Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Raanan on Wednesday, October 20.

The rabbi for the family of the two released American hostages said the news of their release is both comforting and overwhelming.

Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Raanan are from the Chicago area and were kidnapped by Hamas nearly two weeks ago when visiting relatives in southern Israel. They were released by Hamas on Friday and are going to an Israeli military base to be reunited with their family.

The rabbi described the mother and daughter as kind, generous and giving souls. He said Judith is a weekly congregant at synagogue, attending every Shabbat.

“We have been deeply concerned and deeply pained, and the family’s waiting period is unimaginable pain,” Hecht said.

A US official confirms that there are more American hostages still being held by Hamas, following the release of two Americans Friday. 

President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday that the US has “not ceased our efforts to secure the release of those who are still being held.” That, the official said, was indeed a reference to the fact that there are additional American hostages. 

US officials have never given a firm number of American hostages – only that they believe there are a “handful.”

US President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday, October 19.

US President Joe Biden confirmed the release of two Americans held hostage by Hamas for a “horrific” 14 days, saying he is “overjoyed” the mother and daughter will “soon be reunited with their family.”

Biden reiterated that his administration has been “working around-the-clock” to free Americans held hostage by Hamas, and said, “We have not ceased our efforts to secure the release of those who are still being held.”

The governments of Qatar and Israel were partners in release efforts, the president said.

“Jill and I have been holding close in our hearts all the families of unaccounted for Americans. And, as I told those families when I spoke with them last week—we will not stop until we get their loved ones home. As president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans held hostage around the world,” Biden said. 

The released Americans — a mother and her 17-year-old daughter — are from Chicago and had been visiting relatives in Nahal Oz, a farming community in southern Israel, when they were taken, according to their family.

Qatar confirmed the release of the two American hostages and said it will “continue dialogue with Israel and Hamas in hope of releasing all civilian hostages from every nationality,” the spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed Al-Ansari, said in a statement. 

“Today’s breakthrough comes after many days of continuous communication between all the parties involved,” Al-Ansari said. 

“We will continue our dialogue with both the Israelis and Hamas, and we hope these efforts will lead to the release of all civilian hostages from every nationality, with the ultimate aim of de-escalating the current crisis and restoring peace,” he added.

The two released American hostages who were kidnapped during the initial attack against Israel nearly two weeks ago are now in the care of the Israel Defense Forces, spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Friday.

Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie Raanan “are now at the hands of the security forces in the territory of Israel,” Hagari said during a news conference in Tel Aviv.

“Their families have been updated, and more updates to follow tonight and tomorrow,” he said.

Hagari said that the Israeli government and security forces would do “everything to bring the hostages home.”

Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie Raanan.

Hamas has released US citizens Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie Raanan, who were kidnapped during the initial attack against Israel nearly two weeks ago, according to the Office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  

The Raanans are from the Chicago area and had been visiting relatives in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz in southern Israel when it was attacked by Hamas, according to their family.

They were handed over at the border before making their way to an Israeli military base to be reunited with family, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.

They are currently in care of the Israel Defense Forces, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.

Israeli soldiers and military vehicles stationed near the Israel-Labanon border on October 16.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib is asking Israel to declare a 48-hour ceasefire, telling CNN “then we will know exactly who is starting what.”

Habib told CNN’s Poppy Harlow Friday that his country is very worried that the war could spread into the region. “Really we don’t want war. The government does not want war. We are dialoguing with the various groups. But it is uncontrollable because it depends all on what happened in Gaza,” Bou Habib said.

While Israel prepares for the next stage of the war with Hamas in Gaza, the Iran-backed group Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces across the border in northern Israel and southern Lebanon.

Earlier on Friday, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN, “The government of Lebanon, anything that happens from their sovereign territory, they need to — they are responsible for, and they will be held accountable for. This is a sovereign state. It has control over its borders. They have the responsibility to make sure that terrorists like Hezbollah, a terrorist army, do not launch attacks against Israel.”

In response to Lerner’s comments, Foreign Minister Habib said Israel is “making it worse by their talk.”

“Let’s call for a ceasefire and see what happens. Instead of threatening,” he said.

When Harlow asked Habib if his government has control over Hezbollah, he said, “The people are interrelated here, politically and even blood-wise. So, we cannot hold them from doing some revenge if really the situation in Gaza is going to be worse than what it is now.”

“They (Hezbollah) do not want a war. But I mean, you can’t control it. It all depends, again, on what happens in Gaza, on the invasion of Israel to Gaza,” he added.

The pending release of two American hostages from Gaza Friday is “hopefully the start of more to come,” a diplomatic source with knowledge of the arrangements told CNN.

The source confirmed that the hostages were with the Red Cross and indicated no exchanges were part of their release.

Representatives for the families of hostages missing in Gaza since the Hamas attacks on October 7 have welcomed Friday’s release of an American mother and daughter.

“Hamas committed war crimes,” the statement continues. “Many leaders in Arab states have tremendous influence over its leaders and must act to immediately release all the hostages and missing held in Gaza.”

It went on to call on world leaders and the international community to “exert their full power” to secure the hostages’ release.

Women protest against the Israeli offensive on Gaza in Beirut on October 20.

Several hundred people protested in Beirut to denounce the Israeli offensive on Gaza. Protesters waved the Palestinian and Lebanese flags, along with the flags of Hezbollah and its political ally, the Amal Movement. 

“The only language is that of resistance,” Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar told the crowd in Beirut, adding “the waves of resistance” extend from Yemen to Iraq, in reference to other Iran-backed political and armed groups across the region. 

Young protesters burned the American flag, in protest of what they perceived as US support of Israel and its ongoing siege on Gaza following the devastating Hamas terror attacks that killed over 1,000 people in Israel. In the days since the October 7 attacks, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 4,100 people in Gaza, including hundreds of women and children, according to the health ministry in the territory, which is controlled by Hamas.

Lara Al-Shomi brought her 4-year-old daughter with her to the protests. “I want her to know about the Palestinian cause from a young age,” she told CNN. 

Earlier, at a different, smaller demonstration at Martyrs’ Square in Beirut, protester Abdel Rahman told CNN, “We can’t keep silent anymore. This has crossed all boundaries.”

Israel has previously told the United States government that some Americans held hostage by Hamas are known to be alive, a US official told CNN.

It is not clear whether the Israelis were referring only to the two hostages currently being released or had information on more hostages as well. US officials have not said whether they believe any of the American hostages are dead and have previously noted that all hostages are assumed alive.

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli military said the majority of hostages are alive. 

The US government has never said how many Americans it believes are being held hostage, only describing the number as a “handful.” 

The US currently is not aware of any “proof of life” videos of American citizens held hostage, akin to the video that Hamas released earlier this week of a 21-year-old French-Israeli woman Mia Schem, the source said. But intelligence shared by Israel had led the US to believe some American hostages are alive. 

More context: Ascertaining the condition of Americans taken hostage by Hamas and extracting them from Gaza has been a top priority for President Joe Biden since the outbreak of conflict in Israel. Officials have stressed for days how extraordinarily challenging and complex the intelligence-gathering process surrounding American hostages have been. CNN had previously reported that Qatar is in talks with Hamas about the hostages and playing a key mediating role. 

Two American hostages, a mother and her daughter, are being released by Hamas, according to a person familiar with the negotiations and a diplomatic source.

The two have been handed over to the Red Cross and are “on their way out,” the source familiar with negotiations said. They are being released on “humanitarian grounds” because the mother is in poor health, the same source said.

It is unclear whether they will leave Gaza into Egypt or Israel.

It is the result of the negotiations between Qatar and Hamas that started after Hamas abducted around 200 people from Israel on October 7.

“In response to Qatari efforts, Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless,” Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida said in a statement.

The White House has not commented. The Israeli prime minister’s office has not commented. CNN has reached out to the Red Cross.

A convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid line up in Egypt near the Rafah border crossing on October 20.

US President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House Friday that trucks carrying much-needed humanitarian aid should enter Gaza “within the next 24-48 hours,” after delays prevented the convoy from delivering supplies via the critical Rafah crossing from Egypt to Gaza as scheduled Friday.

Biden said he “got a commitment from the Israelis and the president of Egypt that the crossing would be opened.”

A satellite image shows the convoy of aid trucks waiting on the Egypt side of the Rafah border crossing on Friday.

Some background: CNN has reported throughout the week that supplies remain in limbo at the crossing as concerns rise about the rapidly worsening conditions for the population stuck in the besieged enclave.

The entire population of Gaza has been cut off from supplies of electricity, food, fuel and water for over a week under a “complete siege” ordered by Israel in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks.

The first convoy carrying humanitarian supplies from Egypt won’t cross until Saturday at the earliest, US sources told CNN, as the World Health Organization warned that much more aid than what has been agreed upon would be required. In a news conference at the Rafah crossing Friday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the critical importance of delivering aid to the Gaza Strip, saying the vehicles carrying supplies “are not just trucks — they are a lifeline.”

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh holds a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah on October 9.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told CNN that he won’t condemn the Hamas attack that killed over 1,000 people on October 7, saying, “support of Israel blindly is a license for killing.”

“I hope that (the) United States does not go into that direction,” he added.

In a sit-down interview in Ramallah in the West Bank, Shytayyeh told CNN’s Becky Anderson why he was unwilling to condemn the attacks:

He went on to say that “condemnation should be (for the) killing of every civilian, every human being that does not deserve to die. We should condemn that.”  

Shtayyeh claimed that the sentiment of the Israeli people is one of revenge.

Visits by world leaders to Tel Aviv in support of Israel — a reference in part to Biden’s visit Thursday and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visits in the last week, among others — have “given the greenest of the green light for Israel to continue its attack on Gaza,” Shtayyeh said.

International support should be for peace, not aggression, he said.

The prime minister called on a collective international effort led by the United Nations Security Council to end the war.

Video from the ground in Gaza City showed damage at the site of St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church campus and its surrounding area after an Israeli airstrike on Thursday night. The main impact of the strike heavily damaged a building adjacent to the church compound. One church building was partially collapsed by the airstrike, according to CNN’s analysis of the video, which CNN commissioned. 

The footage from the ground also shows people working collectively to go through rubble searching for any bodies. At one point, a group of people can be seen dragging a body wrapped in a blanket out of the rubble and through a small crowd, as many pull out their cameras and phones to record the moment. Other people can be seen grieving and crying.

The church’s Father Habib Silas said that 17 people were killed.

“We are asking from God to bring the peace to the area. These are our prayers,” Silas added. “If they don’t want to kill people, stop! To have peace in the area.” 

Earlier on Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that 17 people were killed following the strike.

A Hamas statement about the incident mentioned “a number of casualties” but did not say how many.

The Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement Friday that “fighter jets targeted the command and control center in the Zaitoun area.”

One man at the scene of the strike, who did not want to be identified by name, said the church compound included “a shelter for more than 500 Christians,” including “children, women, elderly, (and) ill” people. He claimed that the building was bombed “without prior notice,” adding that “despite all this, we call for love and peace. Gaza is praying for peace to prevail for the whole world.”

Another man said he was mourning the loss of his three children and other family members, saying they were killed in the strike. 

“They killed children, including my three children. They killed my cousins. My cousins have been erased from the civil register. I have become bereaved over my children,” Ramez El-Souri said, adding a plea to “stop this vicious war that is destroying stones and killing children.”

More background: The church’s campus in Gaza City is owned by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which said in a statement they “remain committed to fulfilling its religious and moral duty in providing assistance, support, and refuge to those in need, amidst continuous Israeli demands to evacuate these institutions of civilians and the pressures exerted on the churches in this regard.”

At least 30 French citizens have been killed following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, the French foreign ministry said Friday.

Seven French citizens are still missing, according to the ministry, which said that “some” of these people are hostages in Gaza without providing further details.

“We are doing everything we can to secure their release,” the ministry added.

Photographs of people taken hostage by Hamas are seen in Tel Aviv on October 18.

Relatives of Israeli hostages who are being held captive by Hamas have plans to travel to London, Rome and other cities to urge foreign dignitaries to help bring their loved ones home. 

The first delegation, made up of families of the missing and the victims, will travel to London on Sunday, Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs, announced on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

On Tuesday, a second group will travel to the Italian capital, Chikli said. Additional trips are planned for Brussels and the US. 

The Israeli minister said the delegations would meet with parliamentarians, Jewish communities and members of the international media. 

“The battle for global public opinion is a difficult and complex one, and we will win it too,” he said.

Several people have been injured in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in several areas in the occupied West Bank on Friday, according to a Palestinian Red Crescent Society statement. 

The PRCS said it had seen people who had been injured by “live ammunition” at Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, at the Huwara checkpoint south of the city of Nablus and at the northern Birzeit checkpoint.

The statement also said that a 14-year-old had been injured and detained by Israeli forces.  

“First aid was provided to the injured, and they were transported to the hospital,” the PRCS said.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

CNN cannot independently verify the injuries. 

A plane carrying World Health Organization medical supplies unloads at Al Arish airport, Egypt, on October 20.

Another plane carrying World Health Organization medical supplies for Gaza landed in Egypt’s Al-Arish Airport on Friday morning, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The shipment carried 9 tons of WHO supplies, including “surgical supplies and instruments for 1000 medical operations, water tanks and tents,” the office said in a post.

“We are ready to deliver a stream of life-saving supplies. What we need now is the immediate and uninterrupted flow of these supplies to Gaza,” the WHO’s post added.

Egypt’s Al-Arish airport is located approximately 45 kilometers (about 27 miles) away from the Rafah crossing.

Remember: The crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt has remained shut, with aid unable to get into the Palestinian enclave as residents there face a deepening humanitarian crisis.

Opening the border and ensuring the safe passage of any aid to Gaza has been a complicated process with several parties involved.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, center, speaks during a press conference at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza on October 20.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized the critical importance of delivering aid to the Gaza Strip, saying the vehicles carrying supplies “are not just trucks — they are a lifeline.”

A CNN team attended the press conference and witnessed several hundred protesters as Guterres finished his address, causing him to leave the Rafah gate earlier than planned.

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he’d struck a deal with his Egyptian counterpart to allow a first run of 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But the United Nations wants a sustained humanitarian corridor, not just an influx of 20 trucks.

Aid convoy trucks wait at the Rafah border crossing for clearance to enter Gaza on October 19, 2023 in North Sinai, Egypt.

According to the UN, 219 trucks are currently waiting at the Rafah border crossing — 115 that belong to the Egyptian Red Crescent Society and 104 that contain aid originating from other countries.

The main obstacle to opening the crossing is establishing a verification mechanism that will guarantee the delivery and prevent it from being randomly tampered with as the trucks move into Gaza, UN secretary-general spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

Creating a verification mechanism is proving to be highly intricate, Dujarric said. The Israelis aim to monitor the goods entering Gaza, but the challenges lie in determining where and how this could happen.

The essential items the aid trucks must bring in include fuel, water, food and medicine. The remaining fuel reserves will suffice for only a few more days and are crucial for powering generators in hospitals.

US President Joe Biden’s administration requested more than $105 billion in supplemental funding from Congress Friday, to provide security and humanitarian assistance for the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, among other key US priorities.

The request will help mitigate “the global humanitarian impacts of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and of Hamas’ horrific attacks on Israel, including by extending humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza,” the Biden administration said.

The package, the contours of which have been telegraphed to members of Congress in recent days, will also seek additional funding for the US-Mexico border and priorities in the Indo-Pacific region.

Here’s a full breakdown of the request, according to the US Office of Management and Budget:

Read more about the package here.

People march during a protest supporting the Palestinian people following Friday noon prayers toward Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, on October 20.

Hundreds of protesters gathered near downtown Cairo’s Tahrir Square in support of Palestinians on Friday, CNN journalists witnessed.

The protesters stretched a full city block and around a corner. Tahrir, a major public square in downtown Cairo, has been a rallying point in Egypt for protests. 

Riot police were able to push the crowd back from the mouth of Tahrir Square into neighboring Bab El Luk Square, and they closed access to Tahrir with security forces, a CNN journalist witnessed.

People also shouted, “With our soul and our blood we redeem you, O Aqsa,” a pro-Palestinian rallying cry referencing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, one of the most revered places in Islam and Judaism.  

Remember: Protests against Israel’s siege of Gaza are taking place all throughout cities in the Middle East on Friday. Egypt’s state-aligned political parties and institutions have called for these nationwide protests in Egypt in support of Palestinians, a rare moment during a decade of strict anti-protest laws.

A man assists his elderly father to be evacuated from Kiryat Shmona, near Israel's border with Lebanon, in northern Israel, on October 20.

About 100,000 civilians have been evacuated from their homes so far in northern and southern Israel, according to the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

These evacuations include short-term leave, the ministry said, but it did not specify a time frame.

The evacuation of the city of Kiryat Shmona — which is not mandatory — is not included in that number, but would bump up the total number of evacuations to around 123,000 civilians, the ministry said.

Alex Dancyg, a world authority on Holocaust history, is believed to have been taken hostage from the kibbutz of Nir Oz by Hamas during the October 7 attacks. His son says the 75-year-old has a serious heart condition, and called for other countries to pressure Hamas to release its hostages.

“I’m worried about his health without medication,” Matty Dancyg, 46, told CNN on a phone call. “I’m worried about what conditions he’s being held in. It’s so terrible. Maybe it’s better to be dead in this situation.”

He called the terror attacks and hostage-taking by the militant group a “very big failure” for the Israeli government and army, saying this “never should have happened.”

Some background: Born in Poland to Holocaust survivors in 1948, Dancyg has dedicated his life to Holocaust and Polish Jewish history, according to his son. “He’s one of the biggest experts in this field,” Matty said. “He has thousands of students around Israel and Poland, and in Poland he’s a very well-known teacher and person with a lot of friends.”

It took eight hours for the Israel Defense Forces to arrive, Matty said as he recalled the “terrifying hours” that he, his wife and three daughters spent sheltering as Hamas moved “from house to house, without anyone to stop them.”

While he described his father’s captors as “monsters,” he does not believe that ordinary Palestinians are to blame. 

“Not all Palestinians are terrorists,” he said. “They’re just simple human beings who want to live their lives like me. They are all hostages of this organization and most of them are just regular people who just want to live.”

“I think they should get humanitarian aid and the hostages should get it. It’s a very complicated situation,” he added.

A man walks with a gun while holding a woman's hand near memorial candles laid next to the “We Stand With Israel” memorial display in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 20.

The Israeli Ministry of National Security has recorded a jump in civilians in the country applying to obtain a private firearms license, according to a news release by the ministry.

The ministry sees this number of requests, on average over the span of two years, said David Weizman, head of the Firearms Inspection and Enforcement Division at the Ministry of National Security.

“With the outbreak of hostilities,” the ministry said it “significantly increased the scope of activity for issuing licenses.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks during the Arab League's "Summit for Jerusalem" in Cairo, Egypt, on February 12.

Egypt said it is preparing a peace summit scheduled for Saturday, with regional and international leaders invited to participate, in a bid to de-escalate the conflict and protect civilians in Gaza.

Leaders from Qatar, Turkey, Greece, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Cyprus have confirmed attendance, according to state news.

In addition, a Palestinian leader, the United Nations secretary general and the Arab League secretary general have also confirmed attendance, it said.

Separately, Japan confirmed that its Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa will also be at the summit.

Earlier Friday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s office said she is extending her Middle East trip to attend the summit as well.

CNN”s Junko Ogura in Tokyo contributed reporting to this post.

Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, looks on during a military exercise in Isfahan, Iran, in this handout image obtained on September 8, 2022.

Iran warned the US about the consequences of sending weapons to Israel, saying it would further complicate the situation in Gaza, according to Iran’s state-aligned news outlet Tasnim.

Bagheri also said that “serious action” is needed to prevent war crimes and called for humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza, Tasnim reported. 

Seven hospitals and 21 primary care health centers in Gaza are “out of service,” and 64 medical staff have been killed as Israel continues its airstrikes, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Friday.

“Due to the Israeli violations, seven hospitals are out of service and 21 Primary Health care centers as well. 64 medical staff were killed and 23 ambulances were destroyed,” said the health ministry spokesperson Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra.

CNN cannot independently verify the extent of the casualties.

On Thursday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement that more than 60% of primary care facilities are shut down, and hospitals in Gaza are on the brink of collapse due to the shortage of power, medicine, equipment and specialized personnel.

Conditions in Gaza are worsening by the hour as fears continue to grow over a catastrophic humanitarian crisis unfolding in the enclave.

Multiple rights groups are warning of the deadly consequences of ongoing shortages in the Gaza Strip and urging for vital supplies to be allowed through the Rafah crossing.

Here’s where things stand:

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The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in a statement Friday implored all parties “to allow the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for all civilians in need, wherever they are.” 

A spokesperson for the human rights group expressed concern about continuing Israeli strikes across Gaza, including in the south.

It also expressed concern about the rockets being fired from Gaza into Israel and the alarm at the “rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied West Bank and the increase in unlawful use of lethal force.”

Citing reports of ill-treatment and lack of due process, it called for the end of “arbitrary arrests of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Arab Israelis in Israel.” 

Ambulances carrying victims of Israeli strikes crowd the entrance to the emergency ward of the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on October 15.

Utility shortages in Gaza “are going to kill many, many people,” said Avril Benoît, executive director of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) also known as Doctors Without Borders.

Benoît told CNN that it often loses contact with its team in the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza due to lack of electricity, inability to charge phones and cell signal often being cut out, making it “difficult to get real-time information.”

“What we do know is our medical coordinator was warning that the fuel was reaching catastrophic lows,” she said.

Benoît added that there is a lack of painkillers, something which she said has “been going on for quite a time.” 

People in Gaza are “exhausted, including the medical teams who have been working around the clock,” Benoît said. “Everyone is dehydrated, malnourished, hungry,” she said. “It’s really a difficult circumstance in which to be able to even focus on a mass casualty response that’s needed.”

“It’s absolutely life or death at this point. Hour by hour it’s essential for that humanitarian assistance to be brought in,” Benoît continued. “We are deeply concerned for the fate of everyone who happens to be in Gaza right now, where nowhere is safe.”

The charred remains of kibbutz Be’eri, Israel, on October 20.

Dozens of bodies of victims of the October 7 Hamas terror attack are still lying near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, a search and rescue volunteer told CNN in Be’eri, an Israeli kibbutz that was attacked close to the border.

They have not been recovered yet because of rocket attacks by Hamas from Gaza, said Yossi Landau, the head of the southern command of ZAKA, the Israeli volunteer-run emergency rescue service.

The group has been working non-stop trying to retrieve the bodies of the victims of the massacre last week. More are found and identified every day, he said.

Rocket attacks continue to be launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel, even as the Israel Defense Forces continue to pound the enclave with heavy strikes.

Smoke rising from the Gaza Strip is visible from kibbutz Be’eri,

US President Joe Biden addresses the nation on the conflict between Israel and Gaza and the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 19.

The Biden administration stands poised to request $105 billion in funding from Congress Friday to deliver aid and resources to Ukraine and Israel as both countries are embroiled in domestic wars.

The request includes $14 billion to Israel, which officials say reflects requests Biden received while traveling to the region Wednesday. 

Here’s the breakdown of the $105 billion that the White House will request: 

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday morning that “more delays will result in more suffering and more deaths” in Gaza, amid questions over when the crossing between Gaza and Egypt will open to humanitarian aid trucks.

Ghebreyesus said in a social media post that the WHO “continue[s] to ask for access to deliver lifesaving supplies.”

A CNN team on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing earlier saw trucks arriving from several aid groups loaded with desperately needed supplies. Road repair vehicles from Egypt were also spotted amid ongoing work to repair both sides of the crossing.

The crossing is not expected to open Friday for a vital convoy of humanitarian aid to get to Gaza, multiple sources have told CNN, despite expectations voiced by US President Joe Biden and others that it would be open.

US officials now expect that the first convoy will cross the border this weekend, possibly by Saturday. However, a US official cautioned that the situation remained fluid as preparations continued to allow the humanitarian aid through.

Israeli police look on as Muslim Palestinians take part in Friday Noon prayers in East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, on October 20.

The streets in Jerusalem’s Old City were quiet on Friday as only a few worshippers made their way to al-Aqsa mosque for prayers. 

A CNN producer reported seeing an increased Israeli police presence and some worshippers were stopped from entering, despite the fact that there are no official restrictions. 

The occupied West Bank has been closed since October 7 and people from there wishing to worship at the mosque cannot do so. 

Shops are mostly closed as shopkeepers are on strike following the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. 

Some context: The al-Aqsa compound is one of the most revered places in Islam and Judaism. The sacred grounds, known to Muslims as Al Haram Al Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as Temple Mount have been a flashpoint of tensions between Israel and the Palestinians for decades.

Only Muslims are allowed to pray in the compound under a status quo arrangement originally reached more than a century ago. Non-Muslim visitors are allowed visits at certain times and only to certain areas of the complex. 

But many in the Muslim world fear that the right to be the sole worshipers there has been eroded and that the sites themselves are being threatened by a growing far-right Jewish movement and Israel’s far-right government. 

Clashes have frequently broken out at the site between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli forces. Police raided the compound several times over the last year.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has published new information on the status of hostages and missing persons taken by Hamas following their brutal and brazen surprise attack on October 7.

The IDF said the majority of hostages are alive.

Over 20 of the hostages are under the age of 18, while 10-20 of them are over the age of 60.

It’s unclear how many hostages overall are being held in Gaza.

The IDF said the number of missing is between 100 and 200 people while a spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a video statement on Monday the number was at least between 200-250.

The spokesperson, Abu Obaida, said the Al-Qassam Brigades held about 200 hostages, while the rest were held by other “militant formations” in Gaza, adding that it could not determine the exact number of hostages due to constant Israeli bombardment.

The IDF said that it had reduced the number of missing people from 3,000 on the first day of the war to up to 200 individuals as they have confirmed their locations. Of the hundreds of Israelis still unaccounted for, the IDF said it did not have any information about their locations.

The IDF also said that it was still conducting operations to find bodies near the area of the Gaza Strip.

This post has been updated.

A CNN journalist on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing saw trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent and the World Food Programme (WFP) arrive on Friday morning. 

The trucks — filled with essential medicines, food supplies and specialized nutrition for children — are currently parked on the Egyptian side waiting to enter Gaza.

Road repair vehicles from Egypt have now entered the Rafah crossing, according to a CNN team on the ground.

Earlier on Friday, a video released by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights showed ongoing repair work on both sides of the crossing.

Egyptian authorities on Thursday started removing cement blocks at the entrance of the Rafah crossing, in preparation for its opening, several drivers there told CNN.

The death toll of those killed since October 7 in the Gaza Strip has climbed to 4,127, including 1,661 children, according to a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. 

An additional 13,162 people have been injured, spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said. 

In Gaza, hospitals are on the brink of collapse due to shortages of power, medicine, equipment and personnel, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned on Thursday.

Israeli soldiers patrol near the Gaza border in Nir Oz, Israel, on October 19.

Israel is aware that its response to the Hamas attacks on October 7 could trigger a wider regional conflict, which could be “a huge challenge,” a spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces said Friday.

The IDF needs “to be prepared for that,” Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN on Friday. He noted the military has called up “some 300,000 reservists in order to be prepared for an eventuality that there may be a broader conflict.” 

In an interview with CNN’s Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo, Lerner said that while the reservists will be focused on Gaza, the IDF has reinforced its forces along the northern border with Lebanon where Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Islamist movement, has increasingly clashed with Israel’s military over the last week.

On Friday, Israel’s Ministry of Defense said at least 23,000 residents of Kiryat Shmona, located near the Lebanese border, have been asked to evacuate in addition to an earlier plan to evacuate 28 communities living within 2 kilometers of the Lebanese border.

Lerner held the government of Lebanon responsible for the actions of Hezbollah saying it is a sovereign state with control over its borders and thereby has “the responsibility to make sure the terrorists like Hezbollah – a terrorist army – does not launch attacks against Israel.”

He also alleged that “Hezbollah, under the guidance and encouragement of Iran, is operating to divert our attention.”

Lerner warned that while the Israeli military’s sole focus right now is on “dismantling and destroying Hamas step-by-step,” Hezbollah should pay “close attention” and “think if they really want to cross that threshold” with Israel.

Heavy smoke seen rising from several buildings in Nour Shams Palestinian refugee camp, near Tulkarm in the northern West Bank, on October 19.

The number of deaths in the occupied West Bank since October 7 has climbed to 81, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health on Friday. 

Tensions are continuing to mount in the West Bank, where Palestinians have been killed in confrontations with both Israeli forces and settlers.

Settlers, according to international law, are Israeli civilians living in illegal settlements in the West Bank and have been accused of carrying out acts of violence – physical assault, property damage, and harassment – against Palestinians.

Some context: CNN spoke with residents in the West Bank who say 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. The latest killings come against the backdrop of a year in which the West Bank has seen a surge in settler attacks, including one that an Israeli military commander called a “pogrom.”

Even before October 7, when Hamas launched its unprecedented, surprise assault on Israel, the West Bank had been boiling. Following a wave of Palestinian attacks on Israelis last year, Israel launched regular incursions and raids targeting what they said were militant strongholds. The resulting violence left a record number of both Palestinians and Israelis dead, numbers not seen in at least a decade.

Read more here.

Eligible Israeli citizens and nationals can now travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Thursday, accelerating an opportunity that was previously set to begin November 30.  

The Biden administration announced last month that Israel will join the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which allows eligible travelers to apply to enter the US without a visa. The program was previously expected to take applications starting November 30, but the announcement states the US will begin accepting applications now. 

Eligible travelers must apply online for authorization through the US Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). To be eligible, travelers must have a biometrically enabled passport and intend to stay no longer than 90 days.

Travelers with “non-biometric, temporary, or emergency travel documents, or travel documents from a non-Visa Waiver Program designated country” are not eligible and may apply for a US visa instead, according to the DHS. 

“Traveling on a visa may still be the best option for some travelers such as those who would like to stay in the United States longer than 90 days or those who think they may wish to extend their stay or change their status once in the United States,” the DHS said in a press release. 

The application will be available in English only and will become available in other languages no later than November 1, according to the release. 

Video released by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights shows “repair work and paving the road between the Egyptian and Palestinian sides” at the Rafah crossing into Gaza, according to a post from the group on X, formerly Twitter.

Egyptian authorities on Thursday started removing cement blocks at the entrance of the crossing in preparation for its opening, several drivers told CNN.

Egyptian Red Crescent aid trucks have been lined up on the highway in Al-Arish, preparing to move to the crossing once it is open, according to journalist Asmaa Khalil, who was close to the border, on Thursday.

Located in Egypt’s north Sinai, it’s the sole border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. It falls along an 8-mile (12.8-kilometer) fence that separates Gaza from the Sinai desert.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi had agreed to open it after speaking with US President Joe Biden, but it is no longer expected to open on Friday, multiple sources told CNN.

A woman walks with luggage at a bus station while preparing to depart from Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on October 19, as part of an evacuation in the area.

The Israel Defence Forces has corrected itself to say the evacuation of the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona is not mandatory.

Earlier Friday, residents were ordered to leave their homes, Israel’s defense ministry said in a statement.

Located near the Lebanese border, Kiryat Shmona is home to 23,000 residents, ministry spokesperson Mayan Lazarovich told CNN, who said at the time that the decision was a “mandatory evacuation.”

On Monday, the IDF and other agencies announced a plan to evacuate 28 communities living within 2 kilometers of the Lebanese border. Kiryat Shmona was not on the list but falls within the radius.

Injured individuals are transported to the overwhelmed Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza, on October 18.

A shortage of fuel, water and electricity is leaving hospitals in Gaza “unfunctional” and in some cases “out of service,” a top relief agency official said Friday.

The fuel scarcity is causing Gaza residents to resort to using contaminated water as most of the water is not drinkable because it needs treatment units for processing, which requires fuel, CARE West Bank and Gaza Country Director Hiba Tibi told CNN in an interview on Friday.  

Over 60% of primary care facilities are shut down, and hospitals in Gaza are on the brink of collapse due to the shortage of power, medicine, equipment and specialized personnel, according to a statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Thursday.

OHCA added that people are increasingly consuming water from unsafe sources, risking death and placing the population at risk of an infectious disease outbreak.

The Israel Defence Forces said one “terrorist” was killed in Lebanon during IDF attacks on Hezbollah targets in response to rocket attacks on Northern Israel. 

Brigadier General Daniel Hagari did not go into details of the incident during a Friday on-camera briefing.

His remarks came a day after a death was reported by the peacekeeping United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

There was a “significant exchange of fire” across the Blue Line, the line of demarcation between Lebanon and Israel, UNIFIL said Thursday.

The Lebanese Armed Forces requested assistance from the UNIFIL to retrieve seven people who were stranded near the Blue Line.

UNIFIL urged the IDF to cease fire, after which the Lebanese Armed Forces extracted the individuals, though one person died during the incident, it said. 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, center, arrives at Al Arish airport, Egypt, on October 20.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has arrived in northern Sinai as the UN focuses on efforts to get humanitarian aid across the Egyptian border into Gaza, according to the office of the UN spokesperson on Friday. 

People at the site of an Israeli attack on the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City, Gaza, on October 20.

The head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem condemned the overnight attack on Gaza’s oldest church, which falls under the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The airstrike, which damaged part of the St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City, was “a new massacre” and “an attack on Christian heritage,” according to Archbishop Atallah Hanna, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia in Jerusalem.

It’s unclear how many people may have been killed or injured in the strike. Video from the scene overnight Thursday showed extensive damage.

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday acknowledged that “a wall of a church in the area was damaged,” as a result of the IDF strike.

“Earlier today, IDF fighter jets struck the command and control center belonging to a Hamas terrorist involved in the launching of rockets and mortars toward Israel,” IDF told CNN in a statement.

Hassan Yousef pictured in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 19, 2014.

Hamas spokesman Hassan Yousef was arrested Thursday during raids Israel conducted across the West Bank, according to Israeli authorities.

Yousef was arrested “on suspicion of acting on behalf of Hamas,” the Israel Security Agency Shin Bet told CNN on Friday.  

Yousef is a leading Palestinian political figure, serving as the official Hamas spokesperson in the West Bank and holding a seat on the Palestinian Legislative Council.   

CNN previously reported that Yousef was believed to be among more than 60 members of Hamas detained by Israel in raids across the West Bank, the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory that is increasingly feeling the impact of the fighting in Gaza.

Some context: Yousef has been arrested by Israeli forces on several occasions and has spent a total of 24 years in Israeli jails on various charges of incitement, entering Jerusalem without permission and for being a Hamas member.

He has made regular appearances on international media, this week telling Canadian outlet The Globe and Mail he thought Hamas would be prepared to free the estimated 200 hostages it is holding if Israel agrees to a 24-hour ceasefire to allow aid into Gaza.

Annalena Baerbock arrives at the airport in Tel Aviv on October 20.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is extending her Middle East trip to attend a summit in Egypt on Saturday, her office announced Friday.

Following talks in Tel Aviv and Beirut scheduled for Friday, Baerbock will go to Cairo for Saturday’s summit for peace, the ministry said.

Heavy smoke is seen rising from several buildings in Nour Shams Palestinian refugee camp, near Tulkarm in the northern West Bank on October 19.

Thirteen people, including five children, were killed during an Israeli operation in the Nour Shams refugee camp in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

As of Friday morning, Israeli forces had withdrawn from the camp, the official TV channel Palestine TV reported.

The Russian national flag flies in front of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on May 24.

China and Russia “share the same position on the question of Palestine,” China’s Special Envoy on the Middle East issue, Zhai Jun, said Friday after meeting with his Russian counterpart in Doha, Qatar on Thursday.

“China and Russia share the same position on the question of Palestine, and China is ready to maintain communication and coordination with the Russian Federation in order to cool down the situation as soon as possible,” Zhai said, according to Chinese state media CCTV.

China has blamed the conflict on the “fact that the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people have not been guaranteed,” CCTV reported, quoting Zhai.

He also said China is ready to work with Russia “to play a positive role” in the resumption of the peace talks between the two sides, adding Beijing is “heartbroken by the large number of civilian casualties” in the conflict.

Zhai also met with Qatar’s Minister of State Mohammed Al-Khulaifi on Thursday in Doha and discussed the “critical” Israel-Hamas conflict, CCTV reported.

Beijing is “heartbroken” by the “sharp deterioration of the humanitarian situation caused by the conflict,” Zhai said, calling on “all parties concerned to remain calm and exercise restraint,” according to CCTV.

“Qatar has an important influence on the Palestinian issue,” Zhai said, adding that China is “willing to maintain communication and coordination with Qatar to play a constructive role in easing the current tense situation.”

China is “in the process of intensively communicating with the relevant parties in the international community in order to promote a ceasefire and an end to the fighting,” Zhai said, without specifying the relevant parties.

The Israel Defense Forces struck more than 100 Hamas targets in Gaza overnight, according to a joint statement issued by the IDF and the Israel Securities Authority on Friday. 

The attacks “neutralized” a Hamas terror squad and killed a Hamas naval operative, Amjad Majed Muhammad Abu ‘Odeh, who is believed to have been involved in the October 7 attack in southern Israel, the IDF said.

Terror assets and weapons located in a mosque in Gaza’s Jabaliya neighborhood were also destroyed. According to the statement, the mosque was used as “observation posts and staging ground by Hamas terrorists.”

Residents of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel have been ordered to evacuate, according to a statement released by Israel’s Ministry of Defense on Friday.

Located near the Lebanese border, Kiryat Shmona is home to 23,000 residents, ministry spokesperson Mayan Lazarovich told CNN, adding this was a “mandatory evacuation.”

The residents will be relocated to state-subsidized guesthouses, according to the ministry. 

The evacuation was approved by Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and will be led by the local municipality alongside the ministries of tourism and defense.

On Monday, the Israel Defense Forces and other agencies announced a plan to evacuate 28 communities living within 2 kilometers of the Lebanese border. Kiryat Shmona was not on the list at the time but falls within the radius.

A rocket attack near Baghdad International Airport adds to a growing number of attacks targeting US and coalition forces in the Middle East, as the US tries to stave off a wider conflict stemming from the war in Gaza.

Two rockets targeted the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center near the airport, which houses US military, diplomatic, and civilian personnel, early Friday morning local time, according to a US defense official.

One rocket was intercepted by a counter-rocket system, while the second hit an empty storage facility, the official said. No one was injured, the official said. The attack happened Friday at approximately 2:50 a.m. Baghdad time. 

The rocket attack is the latest in a series of strikes targeting US and coalition forces in Iraq in recent days, as the Biden administration warns Iran and other adversaries not to try to fan the flames of the war in Gaza to other parts of the Middle East at such a volatile time.

The US has not assigned attribution for the attacks. Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria have carried out similar drone and rocket attacks against US forces in the past.

Here’s what we know about the other attacks on US or coalition forces this week:

Ryder said the US will take “all necessary actions” to defend itself and coalition forces.

“While I’m not going to forecast any potential response to these attacks, I will say that we will take all necessary actions to defend US and coalition forces against any threat,” he said. “Any response, should one occur, will come at a time and a manner of our choosing.”

An injured person is assisted by medical personnel after a blast at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on October 17.

The lack of access to aid in Gaza is resulting in “crimes against humanity,” according to a group of UN independent experts.

The experts also raised “serious humanitarian and legal concerns over Israel tightening its 16-year siege of the enclave and its population and long-standing occupation, depriving 2.2 million people of essential food, fuel, water, electricity and medicine,” the UN Human Rights Office said Thursday in a press release.

The experts stressed the need to immediately ceasefire and ensure urgent access to humanitarian aid, and to guarantee the physical safety of the civilian population.

The group also condemned the deadly Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital blast and said they were “sounding the alarm.”

Palestinian officials blamed Israel for the hospital explosion on Tuesday. However, Israel rejected the accusation, saying evidence showed it was caused by a missile launch misfire by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. A US government assessment concluded Israel “was not responsible,” according to the National Security Council. The assessment was based on available reporting, including “intelligence, missile activity, and open source video and images of the incident,” spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.

The UN experts said the Israel campaign in Gaza was resulting in crimes against humanity.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan rejected the accusations by the UN experts.

“They are defending terrorists who are committed to the genocide of the Jewish people, and just committed one in our southern communities. These statements from senior officials show how distorted the UN is,” Erdan said.

“The top humanitarian situation they should be focused on is the condition of over 200 innocent civilians held hostage in Gaza, instead of aiding the terrorists and their supporters,” he said.

Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas has sparked a fierce debate on China’s tightly controlled social media, driving a wedge between those who support Israel’s right to retaliate and a variety of pro-Palestinian voices – including a surge in antisemitic views.

Many in China have been closely following developments in the Middle East and posting their views online since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people and capturing around 200 hostages now believed to be held in Gaza.

The spiraling conflict has split views on popular platform Weibo in much the same way as it has divided opinion outside of China with posts on the Israel-Hamas war routinely landing in its top trending lists, drawing hundreds of millions of views.

But while there are many posts sympathetic to Israel, criticism of its actions is growing, alongside a rise in more extreme, antisemitic views – which China’s powerful online censors have allowed to proliferate.

Deputy Chief of Mission Yuval Waks, of the Israeli Embassy in Beijing, said the sentiment in China has been “very anti-Israeli and, in many cases, antisemitic.”

“We are concerned this would create an atmosphere that is poisonous and would put into danger, critical danger, the Israelis in China and Jews who live in China,” Waks said.

An Israeli diplomat from the embassy was stabbed in Beijing last week by a foreign national, though the motivation of the suspect, a 53-year-old businessman, is still under investigation.

Read more about China’s response to the ongoing conflict here.

In a primetime address Thursday, US President Joe Biden directly appealed to Americans for US support in the wars in Israel and Ukraine and announced he would send an aid package to Congress. The remarks come one day after the president traveled to Tel Aviv and brokered a Gaza aid agreement between Egypt and Israel.

That humanitarian aid is desperately needed in Gaza, where people stuck in the besieged enclave are living in “increasingly dire conditions,” the UN OCHA said Thursday. The entire population of Gaza has been cut off from supplies of electricity, food, fuel and water for over a week and concerns are rising about the rapidly worsening conditions.

Here’s what you need to know:

US President Joe Biden directly appealed to Americans Thursday evening for US support for the wars in Israel and Ukraine during a primetime address from the Oval Office.

Here are key lines from his speech:

Ambulances are seen at the entrance to the emergency ward of the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on October 15.

Gaza’s main medical facility, the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, only has enough fuel to run its generators for 24 hours, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Thursday.    

Thousands of people have been injured in Gaza since October 7 as a result of Israeli airstrikes following Hamas’ terror attacks. 

“I believe that these people are in serious danger of dying in the next few hours, because it’s becoming impossible to get medical attention,” Thomas said.   

Thomas warned that patients in intensive care, neonatology and those on respiratory support machines are at particular risk. 

Al Shifa hospital — where MSF has provided care for burns patients for years — is one of the few places in Gaza with electricity remaining, and it is currently also treating victims from the hospital blast at Al Alhi Baptist hospital on Tuesday.     

Thousands of Palestinians are also sheltering at Al-Shifa hospital as people went there looking for a safe haven from the constant bombing, Thomas said.   

MSF said it is vital for hospitals to be running again and that regular ceasefires must be guaranteed for fuel and medicine to be brought into hospitals.

People inspect an area around the Greek Orthodox Church after an Israeli attack in Gaza City, on October 20.

The St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church was hit in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday night, according to its owners and Hamas. 

The church’s campus in Gaza City is owned by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which said in a statement they “remain committed to fulfilling its religious and moral duty in providing assistance, support, and refuge to those in need, amidst continuous Israeli demands to evacuate these institutions of civilians and the pressures exerted on the churches in this regard.”

An Israeli airstrike caused one of the buildings belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church in central Gaza City to collapse, the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior and National Security said in a statement on Thursday, adding that many people who were taking shelter in the building were injured.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday acknowledged that “a wall of a church in the area was damaged” as a result of the IDF strike.

“Earlier today, IDF fighter jets struck the command and control center belonging to a Hamas terrorist involved in the launching of rockets and mortars toward Israel,” IDF told CNN in a statement.

“The command and control center was used to carry out attacks against Israel and contained terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization,” the statement continued.

“We are aware of reports on casualties. The incident is under review,” the statement read.

“Hamas intentionally embeds its assets in civilian areas and uses the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields,” the IDF said.

Several illumination flares were seen floating down in the distance while red tracer rounds can be seen accompanied by the sound of heavy machine gun fire. 

Early Friday morning, CNN’s Nic Robertson witnessed increased military activity along Israel’s border with Gaza.

Several illumination flares are seen floating down in the distance, while red tracer rounds can be seen accompanied by the sound of heavy machine gun fire.  

In the video, Robertson recalled hearing heavy machine gun fire, and distant explosions.

CNN is unable to provide further detail on the type of military activity seen along the border.

Israeli politicians have given Israel’s military the “green light” to enter Gaza, officials told Robertson on Thursday, and it is now up to the military to decide when to go in.

The Rafah crossing is not expected to open today for a convoy of humanitarian aid to get to Gaza, multiple sources told CNN, despite expectations voiced by US President Joe Biden and others that it would be open.

“I would not put money on those trucks going through tomorrow,” one source familiar with the discussions told CNN.

Road repairs need to be done on the Egyptian side of the buffer zone and there are a lot of other details to make sure the aid is sustained, not a one off, the source said. 

US officials now expect that the first convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt will cross the border this weekend, possibly by Saturday. 

A US official cautioned that the situation remained fluid as preparations continued to allow the humanitarian aid through.

US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said at a briefing Thursday afternoon that former Ambassador David Satterfield, the US special envoy for Middle East humanitarian assistance, was “on the ground negotiating with the Israelis” and working on the details “even as we speak.”

“With respect to trucks, I don’t want to speak to what the exact agreement will look like because that is a matter that continues to be negotiated, that Ambassador Satterfield is on the ground negotiating,” Miller said.

The agreement is for 20 trucks but there are 200 parked outside so aid could be sustained if there’s an agreement. 

Israel is going to want to be involved in the control mechanism, the source says, to make sure they approve what’s going in. 

“Things can change quickly for the better and for the worse,” they said.

Miller on Thursday reiterated that the concerns voiced by the Israeli government that Hamas will try to divert the assistance for Gaza and noted “we think that’s a legitimate concern.” 

Speaking to reporters en route back to the US from Israel Wednesday, Biden said Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi agreed to open the Rafah crossing to “let up to 20 trucks through to begin with.” The road into Gaza had to be fixed and potholes filled before the trucks could pass, the president said. He said it would take about eight hours on Thursday to get the work done, and he expected the trucks to be rolling Friday.

On Thursday, Egyptian state media and an Egyptian security official also indicated that the crossing would be open Friday.

About 1 million internally displaced people in Gaza are living in “increasingly dire conditions” amid shortages of critical resources, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Thursday.

Gaza is under a full electricity blackout for the ninth consecutive day, food and water supplies are dwindling, and hospitals are on the brink of collapse, the office said.

Nutritional health is deteriorating amid the “extremely limited water supply, raising the risk of dehydration and leading to people consuming water that is unfit to drink,” OCHA said.

The office also stressed that commercial stocks of essential food commodities in shops are set to last for “only a few more days.”

OCHA said the World Food Programme (WFP) is providing food and cash assistance every day, aiding a total of 522,000 Palestinians since the start of the crisis.

Separately, UN experts called for a ceasefire in a statement from the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.

“The wilful and systematic destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure, known as ‘domicide’, and cutting off drinking water, medicine, and essential food is clearly prohibited under international criminal law,” according to the statement. 

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops gathered not far from the Gaza Strip on Thursday that they will “soon see” the enclave “from the inside,” according to a press release from his office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a separate visit to an area bordering the Gaza Strip on Thursday, told troops stationed there: “The entire nation of Israel stands behind you and we will give the hard blow to our enemies so that we can achieve victory. For victory! Ready?”

Also Thursday, the commanding officer of Israel Defense Forces Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, told troops at another section of the border: “This maneuvering will shift the war to the enemy’s side and we will win on their ground. This maneuvering will be long, difficult, long, intense, but we have the best commanders and fighters the IDF has to offer.”

Earlier this week: Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said Israel “has no interest” in occupying Gaza but will do “whatever is needed” to eliminate Hamas.

Egyptian authorities on Thursday started removing cement blocks at the entrance of the Rafah crossing, preparing for its opening, several drivers at the crossing told CNN.

Egyptian Red Crescent aid trucks were lining up on the highway in Al-Arish, preparing to move to the crossing once it is open, journalist Asmaa Khalil, who’s currently close to Rafah, told CNN. Red Crescent trucks are carrying international aid that arrived in Egypt, security officials said.

Located in Egypt’s north Sinai, the Rafah crossing is the sole border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. It falls along an 8-mile (12.8-kilometer) fence that separates Gaza from the Sinai desert.

The crossing is currently shut, with aid unable to get into Gaza. It’s no longer expected to open today despite an announcement from President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Thursday, multiple sources told CNN.

Shoukry said the crossing has been bombed four times recently, with one bombing occurring while people tried to repair it. He said four Egyptian workers were injured.

After speaking with US President Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi agreed to open the Rafah crossing to allow aid to enter Gaza. Egypt has said it won’t allow refugees to flood its territory and has instead insisted that Israel allow it to deliver aid to Gazans.