November 21, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the full cabinet to back a deal to exchange Palestinian prisoners for Israelis held hostage in Gaza, saying that the security forces support the deal and that the war on Hamas would continue. 

The Israeli military said it has pushed further into a tunnel underneath the Al-Shifa Hospital complex, releasing an image of what it says is a blast door that was breached.

Video released on Sunday by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from a camera sent down the tunnel shaft and along a passageway had ended at the closed door. The army said it had not immediately gone through the door over concerns it could be booby-trapped.

The army also released a picture of the tunnel passage beyond the breached doorway, appearing to show two further doorways off to the sides, which the army described as “entry doors to rooms in the tunnel.”

Elsewhere, the IDF has completed its encirclement of Jabalya, which is north of Gaza City, army spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, describing it as a “significant combat area.”

He also said the army was pushing further into the Zaytun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City.

Asked by a reporter whether a truce or a pause in hostilities as part of the proposed hostage deal could threaten the army’s goals in Gaza, Hagari said the military would ensure its “military achievements will be maintained.”

This post was updated with the latest details on the picture released by the Israeli military.

Qatar delivered a proposal for a humanitarian pause and the release of hostages to the Israeli side in the early hours of this morning following weeks of continuous negotiations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majid Al-Ansari told CNN.

Qatar is awaiting the result of the Israeli government’s vote on the proposal, the spokesperson said Tuesday.

The deal on the table includes Red Cross visits to hostages from Israel still being held in Gaza, and medicine for hostages who need it, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

The full Israeli cabinet is now meeting to discuss a potential hostage deal, a source familiar with the meeting told CNN, following meetings of the war cabinet and the security cabinet.

Tamar Michaelis in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

The full Israeli cabinet is now meeting to discuss a potential hostage deal, a source familiar with the meeting told CNN, following meetings of the war cabinet and the security cabinet.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that progress is being made on the potential release of hostages being held in Gaza.  

Up to 50% of the buildings in northern Gaza and Gaza governorates have been damaged since October 7 in the Israel-Hamas war, according to an analysis of radar satellite data, called SAR, carried out by researchers at the City University of New York Graduate Center and Oregon State University.  

Here’s what researchers found about different regions in Gaza from October 7 to November 18:

Researchers also told CNN that since November 10, there has been a marked increase in the damage to buildings in the governorates of Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, where Israel has repeatedly told civilians from the north to flee to.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week that the country’s forces were in control of northern Gaza.  

The Israel Defense Forces have dropped leaflets on parts of southern Gaza, warning communities east of Khan Younis to “head towards known shelters,” indicating a potential expansion of the Israeli ground offensive south. 

About the satellite data: A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is unlike normal satellite imagery. It is created by transmitting radar beams that are able to pass through clouds. The beams bounce off objects on the ground and echo back to the satellite; what they bounce off of is then mapped out by the satellite and the SAR image is created.   

A woman holds portraits of hostages Erez Kalderon, 12, and of children of the Goldstein Almog family as protesters rally outside the UNICEF offices in Tel Aviv, Israel, on November 20.

The hostages who are expected to be released if a deal is reached between Israel and Hamas will be mostly children, a source told CNN.

Earlier today, sources told CNN a deal to release hostages taken from Israel by Hamas in exchange for a pause in fighting in Gaza could be announced as soon as today, and aHamas leader said the group was “close to reaching a truce agreement.”

The potential deal would free about 50 hostages and allow a four-to-five day pause in fighting. Three Palestinian prisoners in Israel would be freed for every civilian hostage who is released, according to multiple sources.

A source familiar with the negotiations said there is hope that with a potential hostage deal, they will be able to get significantly more aid into the Gaza Strip, working toward a goal of 400 trucks a day. 

Israel is are cognizant that more aid must be able to get into the strip, the source said. 

Before the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, about 455 aid trucks entered Gaza every day, according to the United Nations.

However, there are still logistical issues that must be worked out, the US State Department said. This has been a challenge given the multiple actors responsible for different parts of allowing aid in Gaza. 

“We ran into a problem last week where we had aid that was going in through Rafah and then filling up warehouses. And because there was no fuel … going through Rafah and fuel inside Gaza had been depleted, there was assistance sitting in Gaza that couldn’t be distributed to the people who needed it,” he explained.

“An agreement that the Secretary [of State Antony Blinken] pushed for last week with members of the Israeli war cabinet that they announced on Friday to allow fuel to go into Rafah for the first time will allow that humanitarian assistance to be delivered, now that it’s made it inside. But there is much more that needs to be done that we continue to push on.”

The White House offered a broad overview of what will happen to released hostages held by Hamas following six weeks held in “abhorrent” conditions. 

Pending a deal, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday that the first step would be safe passage into Israel, followed by “immediate medical attention.”

Some of the hostages, he suggested, could have longer-term medical needs. 

While he declined to speculate on the size or nationalities of the potential pool of hostages that could be released, Kirby suggested that once medical attention is provided, there will be efforts to repatriate citizens to their home countries and connect them with their families. 

Should there be American citizens included in a potential hostage release, Kirby said, after medical care is prioritized, the US State Department will provide assistance.

“The State Department would make sure that they’re looking after them from a consular perspective and providing whatever assistance they might need for follow-on movements,” he said.

Kirby also said US President Joe Biden has been “personally engaged in moving the process forward” as negotiations continue. 

Kirby said that the president has “been in touch with his national security team and the team on the ground that have been helping negotiate this, literally every day getting updates on what’s going on — in fact, usually multiple times a day — and jumping in as he felt appropriate to jump in personally.”

The hostages to be released from Gaza in the first phase of a potential deal between Israel and Hamas will be Israeli citizens and dual nationals, a diplomatic source familiar with the talks told CNN Tuesday.

Israeli government officials are meeting Tuesday night to approve the deal on the Israeli side, which will be the last step in finalizing the agreement, barring any unforeseen issues.

The families of Israeli women and children being held hostage in Gaza remain largely in the dark as a potential deal to free some of those hostages moves through an Israeli cabinet approval process.

For now, they are simply waiting in anticipation, wary not to get their hopes too high.

“We want to hold them in our arms and then I’ll be able to say they’re home,” Zailer said.

Zohar Avigdori, whose 12-year-old niece and sister-in-law were taken hostage, said he and his brother are trying not to think about a potential release until they get confirmation.

“It’s all assumptions, so the situation is unchanged: eyes on the prize without letting hope or despair steer us away,” Avigdori said.

Both Avigdori and Zailer said they have received little to no information from the Israeli government as of Tuesday evening about a potential deal and are largely relying on news reports for their information.

“Even at its most communicative level, the government has not been communicative at all with us,” Avigdori said. “So, I’m still in the dark.”

Palestinians receive bags of flour at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) distribution center in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza on November 21.

The United Nations has called for an immediate ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war but said it would welcome a pause in fighting for the organization to be able to get more aid into Gaza, according to to UN relief chief Martin Griffiths.

Griffiths’ comment comes after sources told CNN a deal to release hostages taken by Hamas in exchange for a pause in fighting in Gaza could be announced as soon as today.  

“It does seem this time that it’s much more likely than it has been in the past weeks. It does seem to be more confirmation from across the landscape that there’s going to be this release and an associated stoppage of fighting for a certain number of days,” the UN official said.  

Griffiths has described the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as “the worst ever” he has seen during his long career at the UN working in many war zones.   

“I don’t say that lightly. I mean, I started off in my 20s dealing with the Khmer Rouge, and you remember how bad that was, the killing fields and so forth,” he said.

At least 1.7 million people – nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population — were killed by execution, disease, starvation and overwork under the Khmer Rouge’s brutal rule from 1975 to 1979.

He went on to describe the scenes in Gaza as “complete and utter carnage.”   

“Nobody goes to school in Gaza, nobody knows what their future is. Hospitals have become places of war, not of curing. No, I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this before,” Griffiths said.

Two far-right Israeli parties that are members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government suggested Tuesday that they would not support the hostage deal being considered by the government.

The Religious Zionism Party, headed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, said: “The suggested deal is bad and we must not agree to it. It’s bad for Israel’s security, for the hostages and for IDF soldiers,” adding, “The only way to return all the hostages is to continue applying military pressure on Hamas until its complete surrender.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party said it would “find it very difficult to support the deal,” and that “our demand is a deal that releases everyone, but on our terms.”

Both parties’ statements suggested they had not yet seen the full terms of the deal.

Neither Smotrich nor Ben Gvir is a member of the war cabinet, which is currently meeting to consider the deal. 

Both are members of the security cabinet, which is due to meet at 12 p.m. ET.

More on the hostage deal: The Israeli government aims for at least 50 hostages to be released as part of the deal being mooted Tuesday – 10 per day for five days – an Israeli government source told CNN. The government would be prepared to extend the deal if Hamas is prepared to release more hostages.

During the days that the fighting is paused, Israel would stop flying surveillance drones over Gaza for at least six hours each day, one person familiar with the talks said.

Under the forthcoming agreement, Hamas would also gather up any additional women and children hostages during the period that fighting has paused – something the group has insisted that it cannot do until a sustained ceasefire is in place. The temporary ceasefire would potentially be extended beyond that for more hostages to be released.

Hamas has also demanded hundreds of trucks of aid, much of it fuel, as part of the negotiations. Fuel is key to running its military operations and ventilating the group’s network of underground tunnels in Gaza.

The Israeli war cabinet is meeting to discuss a potential hostage deal with Hamas, a source in the prime minister’s office told CNN. 

The war cabinet has five members: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, former Defense Minister Benny Gantz and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. 

Following the war cabinet meeting, Israel’s security cabinet – which is larger than the war cabinet – is due to meet at 12 p.m. ET to discuss the deal. 

After that meeting, Israel’s full cabinet – all the government ministers – is expected to meet at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the deal.

The deal does not have to go to the full 120-member Knesset for approval. 

Remember: Israel, Hamas and the US are on the cusp of reaching a deal that could be announced as soon as Tuesday for Hamas to release 50 women and children hostages that the militant group took during the October 7 terror attack on Israel, in exchange for a four-to-five day pause in fighting and three Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons for every hostage released, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

US President Joe Biden confirmed on Tuesday that efforts to retrieve a group of civilian hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7 are “now very close” following extensive negotiations over the past six weeks. 

CNN has previously reported the deal would call for the release of 50 women and children hostages in exchange for a four-to-five-day pause in fighting and three Palestinian prisoners for every civilian hostage released, according to multiple sources.

“We’ve been working on this intensively for weeks, as you all know,” Biden said, pointing to his own talks in recent days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and US officials on the ground in the region. 

Pressed by CNN’s MJ Lee for details on how many American hostages could be released, Biden declined to say.

“I’ll have plenty of time to talk about the hostages. Not now. I’m not going to tell you now,” he said.

Two heavy explosions sent up large plumes of smoke in northern Gaza early Tuesday evening.

The explosions shook windows and doorframes of a CNN position in Sderot, across from the border with Gaza.

Earlier this afternoon, Israeli forces appeared to deploy a heavy smokescreen around Beit Hanoun as multiple other explosions could be seen and heard in northern Gaza.

The military activity comes as Israel and Hamas appear to be in the final stages of reaching a potential agreement on the release of hostages that would trigger a four-to-five day pause in fighting.

In past conflicts, fighting between Israel and Hamas has been known to increase in the final stretch before a temporary ceasefire or pause in fighting.

Smoke rises in Gaza as Israeli attacks continue on November 21.

Wounded men, women and children were taken to hospitals in Gaza after Israeli airstrikes on the Jabalya area in northern Gaza, Reuters videos shot on Tuesday show. 

“They destroyed our homes over our heads, we thought we were safe,” an unidentified woman at one hospital said, according to Reuters. 

The Israel Defense Forces said early Tuesday that the Israeli Air Force was “preparing the battlefield” by focusing on “terror targets” in Jabalya. 

“During the battle, the division struck three tunnel shafts in the area of Jabalya, in which terrorists were hiding,” the IDF said.

One resident of the nearby neighborhood of Sheikh Radwan, Yasser Abu Watfa, told CNN that the conditions in Jabalya are “scary,” but many people living there have not evacuated. 

Gaza’s worsening health crisis: Doctors at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza continued working amid fuel, power, food and water shortages as Israeli tanks surrounded the building, according to a post by the hospital. 

“The bodies are piled on top of each other inside the hospital, the smell of death is everywhere,” Al-Sharif said. 

Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from Gaza early Tuesday as strikes continued early morning, according to live video feeds. Israel has ordered Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza as it targets Hamas infrastructure and fighters. 

More on strikes in Gaza: The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on X, formerly Twitter, that four doctors were killed during Israeli shelling of Al-Awda Hospital, which is located in the Jabalya area. The hospital was being evacuated and wounded people were being moved to Kamal Edwan Hospital, journalist Issam Badr said. 

CNN is reaching out to the IDF for comment on any shelling in the vicinity of Al-Awda. 

Ashraf Al-Qudra, the spokesperson of the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, said that the health sector of the north “completely collapsed.” 

“The hospitals in northern Gaza are all completely closed, and there is no medical service that can be provided in the north,” he said.

A UN-provided tent camp for Palestinians displaced by Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis, on November 19.

In its latest update on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the main United Nations agency in the Gaza Strip said that almost 1.7 million people have been displaced since October 7.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said that 930,000 internally displaced people were sheltering in its premises across Gaza as of November 19. The shelters are already severely overcrowded and have no more room for new arrivals, it said.

The organization said the displacement of so many people was resulting in significant spread of diseases, including acute respiratory illness and diarrhea, instances of which have increased by 40% in the last two weeks.

Heavy rain and limited access to water and sanitation in Gaza are also posing a “serious threat of a mass disease outbreak” among children, the United Nations Children’s Fund warned Tuesday.   

On average, there is one shower unit for every 700 people and 160 people share a single toilet, according to UNRWA.

UNRWA also said it was told 120 liters of fuel would be allowed into Gaza every second day — but even that would only cover half of the critical daily requirement.

Without more fuel, the agency said it would be forced to handle a reduced number of aid trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossing daily into Rafah, and large parts of Gaza would continue to be flooded with sewage, further increasing risks of disease.

The agency also provided some other updates on its operations in Gaza. According to UNRWA, as of November 19:

CNN’s Niamh Kennedy in London contributed to this reporting.

Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha has been released after questioning, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

In a statement Tuesday, the IDF said that during operations in the Gaza Strip, “there was intelligence indicating of a number of interactions between several civilians and terror organizations inside the Gaza Strip.”

“The civilians, among them Mosab Abu Toha, were taken into questioning. After the questioning he was released,” according to the statement.

More about Abu Toha: An American Book Award winner and finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for his debut poetry book, “Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear,” Abu Toha, 30, had written searingly about the Israeli airstrikes that have decimated Gaza since war broke out last month between Israel and Hamas.

He had been contributing to The New Yorker and other publications with reflections on his life inside Gaza during the war.

He was taken into custody by the IDF “when he reached the checkpoint while leaving from the north to the south” of Gaza, his brother Hamza Abu Toha said in a Facebook post Monday.

“His wife and children entered the south, and the army arrested my brother Mosab,” Hamza Abu Toha wrote on Facebook. “We have no information about him. It is worth mentioning that the American embassy sent him and his family to travel through the Rafah crossing.”

China's President Xi Jinping speaks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, California, on November 15.

The Chinese President has again reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire of all parties in the Israel-Hamas conflict and for the release of detained civilians.

He made the comments while speaking Tuesday to a BRICS extraordinary virtual summit on the Palestinian-Israel issue.

“Under the current situation, it is timely and necessary for BRICS to sound a voice of justice and peace on the Palestine-Israel question,” Xi said, according to a readout from state news agency Xinhua.  

Xi also called for all violence and attacks on civilians to be stopped, steps to be taken to ensure the safe and smooth passage of humanitarian relief, the provision of more humanitarian aid to people in Gaza and halting the “collective punishment” on the people of Gaza through forced migration and cutting off water, electricity and oil supplies.

The emergency virtual summit was attended by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 

South Africa chaired the virtual summit. The South African presidency said leaders of Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates were also invited to attend and speak.

Some context: Xi called for a ceasefire and said a two-state solution was the only way out of the Israel-Hamas conflict in mid-October.

At the time he said China is willing to work with Egypt and Arab nations to “promote an comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue,” according to CCTV.

The families of the hostages and their supporters walk towards the prime minister's office on the fifth and final day of the March for the Hostages on November 18, in Jerusalem.

A deal to release hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a pause in the fighting could be struck as soon as today, multiple officials told CNN.

But while optimism is finally growing after six fraught weeks, it is worth keeping in mind the context in which these negotiations are taking place.

For Hamas, the hostages are the only real leverage it holds. The Israeli military is pounding Gaza from the air and on the ground, killing at least 12,700 Palestinians since October 7, according to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank, which draws its data from Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza. Meanwhile, Iran has not become involved to anything like the extent to which Hamas would have wanted.

But while the hostages might be the only strong card Hamas holds, it is one that gives the group huge power – which they will be extremely reluctant to play. Israel knows this.

Even if Hamas held just a fraction of the approximately 239 hostages it captured on October 7, it would still hold considerable leverage over Israel, which has long been known to pay a high price to secure the release of those held captive in Gaza. In 2011, Israel released more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a single soldier – Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage for five years.

And even if Hamas is willing to deliver on a deal, there are huge logistical challenges that may prevent it from doing so. It is unclear if the Hamas leadership has a clear idea of where the hostages are held. Communications in the territory have been degraded by Israeli airstrikes, so coordinating a release on the ground will present great challenges.

On the other side, Israel’s leadership is under huge domestic pressure to secure the hostages’ release. As an indication of mainstream Israeli opinion: most – although not all – Israelis would be happy to see the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails as part of any swap deal.

But Israel distrusts Hamas and is reluctant to agree to any pause in its campaign to destroy the group. At the same time, it does not want to give Israelis the impression it is not doing everything it can to bring the hostages home. So, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does have an incentive to keep alive the idea that negotiations are active, whether the latest development is word of progress or word of a setback.

Israel’s war cabinet will meet Tuesday at 6 p.m. (11 a.m. ET), then the security cabinet at 12 p.m. ET, then the government at 1 p.m. ET, “in light of the developments on the issue of freeing the hostages,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Tuesday.

Netanyahu said on Tuesday that progress is being made on the potential release of hostages being held in Gaza.  

Why this matters: Israel, Hamas and the US are on the cusp of announcing a deal for Hamas to release 50 women and children hostages that the militant group took during the October 7 terror attack on Israel, in exchange for a four-to-five day pause in fighting and three Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons for every hostage released, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

The deal could be announced as soon as Tuesday, two Israeli sources said. US officials close to the negotiations stressed that while the deal is not done, they are increasingly optimistic and believe the many weeks of difficult work is about to pay off with a hostage release.

The implementation of the agreement would not begin immediately and could take at least a day to start, the person familiar said, in part because there are legal procedures that Israel must follow before releasing any Palestinian prisoners. Those prisoners are expected to be women and adolescents.

Both Israel and Hamas are still working on the names of those who could be released in an exchange of hostages in Gaza for Palestinians in Israeli prisons, two Israeli sources told CNN Tuesday.

A US official expressed optimism that a deal was achievable, saying that “this is the closest we’ve been.” 

Any release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons would have to be approved first by Israel’s war cabinet, then by the full cabinet. Both of those votes could take place by telephone and happen quickly. A government decision to release prisoners could theoretically be challenged within 24 hours in Israel’s Supreme Court, although the court could choose to dismiss petitions against the release. 

Not all of the roughly 240 hostages taken from Israel on October 7 are held by Hamas, the Palestinian militant movement that controls Gaza; some others are held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and yet others may be held by other groups or individuals. 

Four hostages have been freed so far: two American women and two Israeli women. 

Hamas said Tuesday that the hostages the militant group offered for initial release are alive, according to a source familiar with the talks. 

At least two of the people taken captive on October 7 have been confirmed dead, according to Israeli authorities. It is not clear if any other of the hostages have been killed.

The Israeli government aims for at least 50 hostages to be released as part of the deal – 10 per day for five days, an Israeli government source told CNN. The government would be prepared to extend the deal if Hamas is prepared to release more hostages.

Any exchange is likely to begin on Thursday morning, the Israeli government source said, partly because the deal could face legal challenges in Israel in the first day after the full Israeli cabinet approves it.

More about Palestinian prisoners: There are a total of 83 Palestinian women and 380 teenagers under the age of 18 imprisoned by Israel in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Israel, according to Qadura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, a nongovernmental organization.

The total number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails is approximately 8,300, according to Fares.

Of those 8,300, more than 3,000 are being held in what Israel calls “administrative detention,” which means they are being held without knowing the charges against them or an ongoing legal process.

The vast majority of the prisoners are adult men, who are apparently not being considered for release as part of an exchange of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.

“I’m not a politician, I’m not a diplomat. I will believe it when I see them walk out.”

That’s what Liz Hirsh Naftali, the great aunt of 3-year-old Abigail Mor Idan, the youngest American to be held hostage by Hamas, told CNN This Morning.

“Until then we just have to keep everything in check because it’s just too much of an emotional rollercoaster,” she continued.

Hirsh Naftali said she was cautiously optimistic after hearing reports her great-niece may be among the civilians soon released by Hamas.

The 3-year-old was taken hostage while she hid in her neighbor’s house after seeing her parents killed during the October 7 attack, CNN previously reported.  

Qatar is hoping to announce a deal as soon as Tuesday to release several civilian hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7 attack in exchange for a pause in fighting, according to a diplomatic source and another source familiar with the talks told CNN.

Hirsh Naftali told CNN that Abigail’s birthday is on Friday and she hopes she’ll be home to spend it with her older brother and sister.

“These people have been in the dark for 45 days. Abigail is a beautiful child who wants to run around and play soccer with her older brother and sister, and she hasn’t been able to run around in 45 days.”

People receive clothes from donations at a hotel in the southern city of Eilat, Israel, on October 17, which is hosting survivors from the Israeli kibbutz of Nir Oz.

As a red alert alarm sounded in the busy hotel dining hall, many of the children scattered in fear, as the horrors of the Hamas massacre on October 7 came flooding back.

Thousands of families who survived the attacks on the Israeli collective communities known as kibbutzim are now homeless and sheltering in hotels along the beaches of the Red Sea resort town of Eilat. But even now, they face a new threat from a different militant group, the Iran-backed Houthis.

In recent weeks, the Houthis have claimed several missile and drone attacks against Israel and warned further strikes would come. Israeli jets and its Arrow defense system have been deployed to counter missiles and other “aerial threats” in the Red Sea area.

As they face this continued threat, the displaced residents are also burying their dead and campaigning to have their loved ones released from captivity in Gaza.

Continue reading about the survivors.

Six weeks after Hamas launched its attack on October 7, killing more than 1,200 people and taking some 239 hostages, the vast majority of the hostages are still believed to be in Gaza. Just four have been released, one was rescued and at least three were found dead.

But Qatar could announce a deal as soon as today to release civilian hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting, according to sources familiar with the talks.

While the deal has not yet been finalized, optimism is growing that weeks of intense diplomacy between a number of countries could soon bear fruit.

Here are the latest developments:

Photographs of some of those taken hostage by Hamas during their recent attacks are seen on October 18, in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Qatar is hoping to announce a deal as soon as today to release civilian hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7 attack in exchange for a pause in fighting, according to a diplomatic source and another source familiar with the talks.

US officials close to the negotiations stressed that while the deal is not done, they are increasingly optimistic and believe the many weeks of difficult work are about to pay off with a hostage release.

Two Israeli sources also say a deal could be announced as soon as today. The release of the prisoners needs to be approved by the Israeli government but isn’t expected to be an obstacle, one says. 

The deal would call for the release of 50 women and children hostages that the militant group took during the October 7 attack on Israel, in exchange for a four-to-five day pause in fighting and three Palestinian prisoners for every civilian hostage released, according to multiple sources.

Under the agreement, Hamas would also gather up any additional women and children hostages during the period that fighting has paused —something the group has insisted that it cannot do until a full ceasefire is in place.

The temporary ceasefire would potentially be extended beyond that for more hostages to be released.

The hostages to be released are of various nationalities, and one of them that the Americans are hoping will be released first is 3-year-old American toddler Abigail Edan – the youngest American hostage whose parents were killed by Hamas, according to the person familiar. It was not immediately clear how many more – if any — American citizens would be among the 50 hostages that Hamas initially releases. 

During the days that the fighting is paused, Israel would stop flying surveillance drones over northern Gaza for at least six hours each day, the person familiar said. 

Diplomatic sources and government officials, including US President Joe Biden, over the last few days have struck a more optimistic tone about the progress of talks but the diplomatic source suggests a final agreement could be imminent.

Any agreement could be derailed by developments on the ground in Gaza. 

Monday night Hamas’ leader said in a statement that the sides are “close to reaching a truce agreement.”

The latest momentum comes just one day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war cabinet met with hostage families.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.

Palestinians walk at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, on November, 21.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said it has “completed the encirclement” of the northern Gaza city of Jabalya.

The IDF said it had support from fighter jets and drones.

Israel’s military said its strikes on the region targeted three tunnel shafts and killed dozens of militants. It also claimed to be operating north of the Jabalya area to destroy tunnel shafts and capture weapons.

CNN cannot independently verify the battlefield claims.

Later on Tuesday, the IDF told residents of northern Gaza to evacuate from the neighborhoods of Jabalya, Al-Daraj Al-Tuffah, and Al-Shuja’iya, saying in a statement, “We urge you to evacuate urgently because it is dangerous for you to remain there.”

In a post on social media, the Israeli Air Force said it struck about 250 Hamas targets within the last day, as part of the IDF’s operations in the Gaza Strip.

Some background: Jabalya is a densely populated refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Many Palestinian refugees settled in the camp in the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, after fleeing villages in what became the state of Israel, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Jabalya is the largest refugee camp in Gaza, says UNRWA, and is spread out across 1.4 square kilometers (about .5 square miles). It has long grappled with overcrowding, with homes, shops, and apartment buildings, where many roads between them are barely wide enough for a car to pass. It is also among the poorest areas in the enclave and home to busy open-air markets.

It has been affected by numerous strikes throughout the Israel-Hamas war. Most recently, a UN-run school housing displaced people was struck, with video showing bodies lying covered in dust. The total number of casualties remains unclear.

Injured Palestinians, including children, are taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for treatment after Israeli attacks hit the school at Al Bureij Refugee Camp in Deir Al Balah, Gaza, on November 20.

A UN-run school in Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp that was being used to shelter displaced Palestinians was hit on Monday, killing and injuring an unknown number of people, the UN’s main aid agency in the strip told CNN late on Monday. 

Juliette Touma, the director of communications for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), told CNN it remains unclear who and what exactly hit the school. They are still collecting information and do not have an accurate tally of those injured or killed. 

Hamas has accused the Israel Defense Forces of “bombing” the school and claims more than ten people were killed. CNN cannot independently verify this claim and has reached out to the IDF for a response. 

Video published by the AFP news agency, which CNN cannot independently verify, shows substantial damage to the outside of the building, with a huge hole blown in one of the concrete walls. Blood stains can be seen on the school’s grounds. 

Ambulances were filmed rushing to Al-Aqsa Hospital where the video shows several injured children being treated. 

One young resident of the Bureij refugee camp, a boy named Ghassan Qazout, told reporters: “Suddenly I didn’t feel my leg at all, then I fell down on the floor and started walking on my leg. I can’t handle it anymore. I felt dizzy too.” 

Some context: Another UN-run school was hit with apparently devastating impact on Saturday.

Video from al-Fakhoura School in Jabalya – which was being used as a shelter for displaced people – shows bloodied bodies across a series of rooms on two floors of the two-story building. Many women and children are among the dead.

It is not clear who was responsible for the incident.

A group of 13 Democratic senators have penned a letter to US President Joe Biden calling for his administration to work with Israel to open its border to allow humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza.

The group, led by Sens. Tammy Baldwin, Tim Kaine, and Chris Van Hollen, wrote Monday to Biden that he should encourage Israel to reopen the Kerem Shalom border crossing to “allow life-saving water, food, and fuel to reach vulnerable civilians.”

“We are concerned that increased and prolonged suffering in Gaza is not only intolerable for Palestinian civilians there but will also negatively impact the security of Israeli civilians by exacerbating existing tensions and eroding regional alliances,” the senators wrote.

CNN previously reported that the Biden administration has warned Israel that eroding support will have dire strategic consequences for Israel Defense Forces operations against Hamas.

Sens. Dick Durbin, Brian Schatz, Michael Bennet, Martin Heinrich, Jeff Merkley, Peter Welch, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Ed Markey and Jeanne Shaheen joined in signing the letter to Biden.

People hold portraits of children held hostage by Hamas as protesters rally outside the Unicef offices in Tel Aviv, Israel, on November 20.

Hamas is holding about 239 hostages following its October 7 terror attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to the Israeli military.

Just four have been released since the attack, one was rescued and at least three were found dead. Sources tell CNN a possible deal to secure the release of some hostages – in return for a temporary pause in fighting – may be in sight, following weeks of negotiations involving several countries.

Here’s what we know about the captives.

Who are the hostages? The hostages include children and elderly people snatched from kibbutzim, young people hunted down while fleeing the Nova music festival, families and Israeli soldiers. Among them are people from more than 25 countries, according to the Israeli government.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in October that 33 of the hostages were children, although the IDF’s overall count of hostages has since fluctuated.

Have any been released? Hamas released two US hostages, Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, on October 20. Days later, Hamas freed two more hostages: Yocheved Lifschitz, an 85-year-old grandmother, and her neighbor Nurit Cooper, 79, from Nir Oz. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also said it rescued Pvt. Ori Megidish last month in a “boots on the ground” operation.

Have any been killed? The IDF has found the bodies of at least three hostages since it launched its ground offensive in Gaza.

Shani Louk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli woman snatched from the Nova music festival, was declared dead on October 30. The IDF last week found two more bodies outside the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City: Yehudit Weiss, a 65-year-old grandmother, and Noa Marciano, a 19-year-old soldier.

Who took them and where are they being kept? Not all of the hostages are being held by Hamas. Earlier this month, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a rival Islamist group, released a video of two hostages – a 77-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy – and said it was prepared to release both on humanitarian grounds. That has not yet happened.

What has the reaction been in Israel? Netanyahu’s government has faced furious reaction from the Israeli public and families of hostages who want more done to secure their release.

Thousands of protesters last week marched through the foothills of Jerusalem towards Netanyahu’s residence. Similar demonstrations have been held in Tel Aviv.

How has Israel resolved previous hostage crises? Israel has previously been willing to pay a high price to secure the release of hostages.

Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, was captured by Hamas in 2006 and held for five years. In order to free him, Israel exchanged more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom had been convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, on November 18.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the return of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 a “sacred and supreme mission,” in a statement on Tuesday as he faces growing anger from family members over the slow pace of progress in securing their release.

Netanyahu released the statement after he and his war cabinet had met with the families of the hostages on Monday, saying that they “are always in my heart and guide my actions.”

The prime minister promised he would not stop fighting until the Israeli government brought them home and destroyed Hamas.

But recently, tensions have boiled over as frustrated families of hostages demand answers from the government about the fate of their loved ones and a deal for their release.

So far only a handful of families have met with Netanyahu – infuriating hundreds of other relatives of hostages who say the government isn’t doing enough to free them.

For some, the meeting only deepened their frustration.

Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Chaimi was taken captive, left the meeting early, saying he felt there was no new information on the hostages provided by the war cabinet, including details about a possible deal to release them.

Some context: Just a handful of hostages have so far been released. On October 20, two Americans – Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie Raanan – were freed on humanitarian grounds following negotiations between Qatar and Hamas.

Soon after, two Israeli women, Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz, were also released.

Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital has been transformed from “a center for providing medical services into a mass grave,” a spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza told CNN on Tuesday.

Citing the head of the hospital’s nursing department, the spokesperson said, “there are corpses in all departments, and we lost many lives due to lack of supplies.”

“There are 60 bodies in front of the mortuaries,” the spokesperson said, adding they will be buried in courtyards inside the hospital.

CNN also received a message from a journalist who is seeking shelter and reporting from the Indonesian Hospital who said the “situation is very difficult.”

Communication across Gaza remains limited, resulting in minimal or delayed information being relayed from the territory.

Some context: On Monday, 12 people were killed when Israeli tank fire hit the medical center. Among the dead are patients who were receiving treatment, and a member of medical staff, health officials said.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was “appalled” by the attack.

Israel said it was responding to enemy fire targeting their troops from inside the hospital, and said “no shells were fired toward the hospital.”

The small Persian Gulf state of Qatar is again front and center in global diplomacy. This time, for its efforts to mediate deals to free hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7 attacks in Israel, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

How does Qatar broker the negotiations? 

Qatar finds itself in a delicate diplomatic position. It has maintained a relationship with Hamas while being one of the closest allies of the United States in the region. 

It has also kept back-channel contacts with Israel.

In 2012, Qatar allowed Iran-backed Hamas to establish a political office in the capital, Doha, which remains operative. That has made Qatar an important mediator with Hamas during its conflicts with Israel.

The country also pays public sector salaries in Gaza, part of a $30 million per month stipend for families and fuel for electricity, according to Reuters.

At the same time, it has maintained close relationships with Western countries, becoming an increasingly important energy supplier as one of the world’s biggest gas producers and a major arms buyer from the US.

Doha was one of the first Gulf Arab nations to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in 1996, breaking a long-held taboo in the region. It severed ties after Israel invaded Gaza in 2009. 

Does Qatar’s relationship with Hamas affect its negotiation role? 

Some experts warn that yes, it could become a liability.

“(Qatar’s) relationship with Hamas has been a key component of the mediation strategy,” said Andreas Krieg, an associate professor at King’s College London who focuses on Gulf states. 

“It’s a place where Qatar has a monopoly over that relationship, has a monopoly over that conflict because it can speak to both sides in a way that no other player in the world can.”

Krieg said that a lot of Qataris privately have their own reservations about Hamas, and that Qatar’s relationship with Hamas likely “needs a bit of a reality check.”

The Washington Post reported in October that the US and Qatar had “agreed to revisit” Doha’s association with Hamas after the hostage crisis is resolved, citing four diplomats familiar with the discussions.

Krieg said it is unlikely that Qatar will kick Hamas out, but is likely to dissociate itself from the group, as it did with the Taliban, which also had an office in the Qatari capital Doha.

Read: How the tiny Arab state of Qatar became indispensable in talks with Hamas

Hamas is “close to reaching a truce agreement” with Israel, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement posted on Telegram.

Haniyeh did not provide additional details about the potential agreement. 

The Hamas statement supports similar assertions from the White House. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that negotiators are “getting close to the end” on the release of hostages held by Hamas – but he declined to elaborate on the details of a potential deal.

In recent days, sources told CNN a possible deal to secure the release of some hostages and a temporary pause in fighting may be in sight, following weeks of negotiations between the United States, Israel and Hamas, mediated by Gulf state Qatar. 

Here are the latest developments:

Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh gives an interview in Istanbul,Turkey, on March 31, 2021.

Hamas is “close to reaching a truce agreement” with Israel, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement posted on Telegram.

Haniyeh’s statement comes after Hamas had delivered a response to mediators in Qatar. 

Haniyeh did not provide additional details about the potential agreement. 

The Hamas statement supports similar assertions from the White House. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that negotiators are “getting close to the end” on the release of hostages held by Hamas – but he declined to elaborate on the details of a potential deal.

In recent days, sources told CNN a possible deal to secure the release of some hostages and a temporary pause in fighting may be in sight, following weeks of negotiations between the United States, Israel and Hamas, mediated by Gulf state Qatar. 

Relatives and colleagues of two Palestinian journalists Hasouna Slim and Sari Mansoor, killed in an Israeli strike, mourn over their bodies during their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on November 19.

At least 50 journalists and media workers have been killed since the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday night, in what has been the deadliest month for journalists since the press freedom group began tracking deaths in 1992.

The mounting toll marked a “grim milestone,” and far surpasses the 15 journalists who have been killed in Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine, according to the organization.

On Saturday, five journalists were killed, marking the second deadliest day of the conflict, CPJ said. The deadliest day of the war was on October 7 — when Hamas launched its shocking terror attack on Israel — the organization said, when six journalists were killed.

CPJ said it verifies reports of journalists killed in the conflict from speaking to sources in the region and from media reports. It was unclear if all of the journalists killed were covering the conflict at the time of their deaths, CPJ said.

The organization has published the names of the slain journalists along with the circumstances of their deaths on its website. 

Ophir Falk, foreign policy adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Monday that Israel’s firing into the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza was proportional and “in complete compliance with international law.”

Twelve people died after Israeli tank fire hit the hospital, health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave said. Among the dead were patients and a member of medical staff, officials said.

Asked about whether Israel’s military actions in Gaza showed a lack of concern for civilians, Falk defended Israel’s response, saying there is “no military on Earth that is more moral” than the Israel Defense Forces. 

António Guterres speaks to reporters on recent developments in Israel and Gaza at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on November 6.

The number of civilians killed in Gaza has been “unparalleled and unprecedented” in comparison to any conflict since 2017, when United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres took office, he said Monday.

When asked about his vision for the day-after in Gaza, Guterres rejected the possibility of a UN protectorate in the enclave, instead calling for a “multi-stakeholder approach” that will eventually lead to a two-state solution. 

“Everybody needs to come together to make the conditions for a transition, allowing for the Palestinian Authority, a strengthened Palestinian Authority, to assume responsibility in Gaza,” he said.

Family members of Israelis being held in Gaza gather in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on November 20.

There were intense exchanges during a committee meeting in the Israeli parliament Monday as family members of some of the hostages held in Gaza clashed with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other far-right members of the government.

Ben-Gvir, a divisive figure in Israeli politics who wants Israel to annex the Palestinian territories, is promoting legislation that would see the death penalty handed down to terrorists.

Hostage family members, holding pictures of their loved ones, vented their frustrations. One of them, Gil Dickmann, whose cousin is being held in Gaza, repeatedly shouted: “Bring them home!”

Already frustrated at the apparent lack of progress to free the hostages, the family members accused Ben-Gvir of endangering their loved ones further by putting the issue of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons back in the spotlight.

Family members worry that by suggesting that Israel might execute Palestinian prisoners, it could make Hamas less willing to release hostages or increase the likelihood of their mistreatment in Gaza. 

Almog Cohen, a colleague of Ben-Gvir in the Jewish Power party, fired back at family members.

“You don’t have a monopoly on pain. We also buried more than 50 friends,” Cohen said.

The meeting was held to discuss Ben-Gvir’s proposed legislation, which is making its way through parliament. It still has several stages to pass before it becomes law and could be withdrawn.

Later in Tel Aviv, a large group of other family members met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the war cabinet at the Defense Ministry.

Udi Goren, one of the family members, left early because he felt there was no new information provided by the war cabinet.

He said he was very disappointed to hear the government was not prioritizing the release of the hostages above all else, including the mission to defeat Hamas.

Asked if he had heard any information about a possible release of hostages, Goren told CNN there was nothing new.