October 17, 2023 - Israel-Hamas war news

President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, en route to Israel.

President Joe Biden said he is “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza,” and that the US will “continue gathering information about exactly what happened,” he wrote in a statement Tuesday.

The statement was released while Biden was on board Air Force One en route to the Middle East. It comes after the White House announced that Biden was briefed on the “the terrible loss of life at a hospital in Gaza.”

The administration has not weighed in yet on who they believe is responsible for the strike and the hundreds of reported deaths it has caused.

There are varying reports on the number of casualties in the hospital blast in Gaza and who is responsible. Gaza officials blame Israel for the hospital blast, whiIsrael has blamed Palestinian Islamic Jihad for a failed rocket launch that hit the hospital. Ho

Hours before Biden was expected to fly to Israel for an extraordinary visit to the war-torn region, massive blast hit a hospital in Gaza, killing hundreds of people.  

There was immediate consequence for the president’s upcoming trip, even before Biden had left the White Housea Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas pulled out of his meeting with Biden, which had been set to take place in Jordan along with other regional leaders. 

The moment vividly captured precisely how much is at stake for Biden as he heads to the Middle East.

US officials had said they had made painstaking efforts to ensure Biden’s security before greenlighting the trip. Biden was also set to emphasize to his Israeli counterpart and others the importance of minimizing civilian casualties in the conflict.

The United Nations Security Council will hold an open meeting Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET on developments in the Middle East, including the bombing of a Gaza hospital.

Both Israel and Palestine are expected to speak at the meeting, which was requested by Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

The incident at the Gaza hospital is expected to be a major topic of the meeting.

Russia requested the open meeting of the UNSC following the Gaza hospital blast, Russia’s first deputy to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said on Telegram.

People are assisted at Shifa Hospital after the Al-Ahli Hospital was hit by a blast in Gaza City on Tuesday, October 17, 2023.

World Health Organization leaders on Tuesday strongly condemned the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital blast, calling it an attack “unprecedented in scale.”

In addition to caring for patients, the hospital had also been sheltering thousands of internally displaced people, the WHO said.

“We want to express our deepest grief at a horror, horror that has unfolded this evening at Al-Ahli hospital,” Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian territories said in a news conference Tuesday. “This attack is unprecedented in scale, but WHO has seen consistent attacks in health care in occupied Palestinian territory.”

The WHO does not have specific casualty numbers yet from the hospital blast but said area reports indicate fatalities and injuries number in the hundreds.

“We are all deeply shocked by the events unfolding in Gaza this evening,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme. He added the locations of these hospitals is “absolutely clear.”

Officials in Gaza have blamed an Israeli airstrike for the blast, while Israel says they did not strike the hospital and blamed it on a failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad militant group.

The hospital was one of 20 in the north of Gaza facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military, but the order has been “impossible” to carry out given the current security situation, and a lack of staff and ambulances, Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said.

The WHO said even before the hospital blast there were more than 100 attacks on health care workers: 51 of them in Gaza with 15 health care workers killed on duty, 27 injured and 24 health facilities damaged.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said it might share intelligence or raw data with the world to prove that Israel is not responsible for the attack on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza as Israel claims.

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said “maybe” when pushed about releasing more information.

When asked if the IDF was 100% certain that it was not an IDF missile strike that hit the hospital in Gaza, Conricus said he is “as certain as anybody in war can be with millions of pieces of information flying around.”

“But after a very serious review, I can say that is the information that we have now we are confident and the information that we have says this was a failed launch by Islamic Jihad,” he said.

Later, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the IDF has communications between militants in Gaza “saying this is an Islamic Jihad event” as well as drone footage showing the strike impact on the hospital’s parking lot, but not the hospital itself. Hagari said the IDF will soon release that footage and audio of the intercepted communications.

Hagari could not confirm whether Islamic Jihad deliberately carried out the attack or whether a rocket misfired – but he did note that the strike took place as a large barrage of rockets was launched from the Gaza Strip.

In response to a question about if there were IDF missile strikes in the vicinity or blocks within the hospital in Gaza, Conricus said: “Not as far as I’m aware.”  

Hagari also said that no IDF strikes of any kind took place in the vicinity of the hospital at the time of the explosion.

Hagari said the IDF had one “Air Force event” around the time of the strike, but said it was not near the hospital and was carrying ammunition that does not match the UAV footage of the strike on the hospital parking lot.

Some other context: While Israel says “IDF does not target hospitals,” the United Nations and Doctors Without Borders say during the past 10 days, Israeli airstrikes have struck medical facilities, including hospitals and ambulances. 

Officials in Gaza blame Israel for the hospital attack, while IDF says it was Islamic Jihad’s “failed rocket launch” and denies it was behind the hit. 

Jordan has canceled a planned Wednesday summit between United States President Joe Biden and the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority after a blast at a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of people, the country’s foreign minister announced.

Biden was scheduled to visit Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday after making a trip to Tel Aviv earlier in the day.

A White House official told reporters traveling to the region with Biden that the US president will “postpone” his trip to Jordan after consulting with King Abdullah II of Jordan and taking into consideration the days of mourning announced by President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority.

The White House made the announcement shortly after the Biden boarded Air Force One en route to Israel. 

Dina Kawar, the Jordanian ambassador to the United States, also told CNN that the summit has been canceled. The US administration has been told, Kawar said, adding that they’ve been told that this is not the moment.

Palestinian officials have blamed Israel for the hospital blast, while Israeli officials say a rocket fired by Islamic Jihad is to blame.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog decried the deadly blast in Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City that he said was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket and criticized the media’s reporting on the tragedy.

“An Islamic Jihad missile has killed many Palestinians at a Gazan hospital, a place where lives should be saved,” Herzog said on social media.  

The explosion was caused by a “failed rocket launch” from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, according to The Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Herzog denied accusations from Gaza officials blaming the IDF for the blast, which likely killed hundreds.

“Shame on the media who swallow the lies of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, broadcasting a 21st century blood libel around the globe,” Herzog said. “Shame on the vile terrorists in Gaza who willfully spill the blood of the innocent.”

“Never before has the choice been clearer. Israel is standing against an enemy made of pure evil. If you stand for humanity — for the value of all human life — you stand with Israel,” Herzog said. 

Aid convoy trucks are seen at Rafah border on Tuesday, October 17, in North Sinai, Egypt.

A miles-long convoy of humanitarian assistance between the cities of El-Arish and Rafah was awaiting the possibility of entering Gaza on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said. 

Shoukry said the Rafah crossing was bombed four times over the past few days. He added that four Egyptian workers were injured while trying to repair some of the damage caused by the blasts.

He said that they do not have “any authorization or clear, secure routes for those convoys to be able to enter safely and without any possibility of their being targeted,” adding that trucks carrying humanitarian aid were parked on the side of the road.

Asked whether Egyptian authorities would accept and welcome refugees, the foreign minister voiced concerns about the massive influx of people. “Why Egypt should allow for the influx of 1 million or 2 million inhabitants who are suffering because of the consequences of them being targeted unnecessarily,” he said.

Shoukry also condemned the October 7 attacks on Israeli civilians, calling them “totally unacceptable.”

It is “horrendous to see whatever imagery of targeting civilians. it’s totally unacceptable,” he said. “Civilians should not be in anyway subject to any form of military activity, and it was a shock,” Shoukry added. 

The European Union is working with Egypt to deliver aid to those fleeing the conflict in Gaza, according to the president of the European Commission.

Ursula von der Leyen said the commission is in contact with authorities in Egypt to try to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to Gaza.

The commission is also “establishing an air bridge to Egypt, close to Gaza in order to be in a position to quickly deliver aid across the border.”

“We’re also explaining to the Israeli authorities that providing water to Gaza is essential. This is a basic human right,” she added. 

Such moves do not affect the EU’s position on the recent attacks launched by Hamas on October 7, she said. 

“There is no contradiction in standing with Israel in solidarity and acting for the humanitarian needs for the Palestinians,” von der Leyen said.

Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said on Tuesday that “Egypt has very clearly said in many political and diplomatic contacts, that they did not wish to open the border with Gaza.”

“But we are working with all the leaders in the region to try to organize the evacuation of foreign civilians. And, we’re also working with all the leaders of the region in order to make possible the humanitarian access to be able to provide to the people in need what they need and to meet their basic needs,” he added. 

At least 17 journalists have been killed since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7. At least eight others were reported injured and three are missing or detained, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Of the deceased journalists, 13 were Palestinian, three were Israeli and one was Lebanese, said the CPJ, which is tracking the growing number of press deaths related to the unfolding conflict.

The CPJ said it compiled its information from its own sources in the region and from media reports.

“Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heartbreaking conflict,” said Sherif Mansour, the CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “All parties must take steps to ensure their safety.”

The group is publishing the names and circumstances of the journalists’ deaths.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the “barbaric terrorists in Gaza” for “attacking” the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, which the Palestinian Health Ministry said resulted in an estimated hundreds of deaths.

“So that the whole world knows: the barbaric terrorists in Gaza are the ones who attacked the hospital in Gaza, not the IDF,” Netanyahu said in a statement. 

“Whoever brutally murdered our children is also murdering their children,” he added. 

Some background: A spokesman for the IDF has “categorically” denied that Israel was involved in the bombardment of the hospital, instead saying intelligence suggests it “was a failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad.”

IDF also posted to its Telegram account that “analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit.”

Palestinian officials have said the hospital was hit in an Israeli strike.

Scores of injured people are being taken to Al-Shifa Hospital following what Palestinian officials say was an Israeli airstrike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza on Tuesday, October 17, 2023. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces "categorically" denied that Israel was involved in the strike and told CNN a Palestinian Islamic Jihad group is responsible for the "failed rocket launch" that hit the hospital.

Hamas on Tuesday said more than 500 people were dead following the devastating strike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, according to a statement on the Hamas official website.

A spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces told CNN a Palestinian Islamic Jihad group is responsible for the “failed rocket launch” that hit the hospital.

The Israel Defense Forces said intelligence shows a Palestinian Islamic Jihad group is responsible for the “failed rocket launch” that struck a Gaza hospital Tuesday, killing hundreds of people, according to Palestinian officials.

The IDF said a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza toward Israel passed near the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza when it was hit.

“Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza,” it added.

A spokesman for the IDF has “categorically” denied that Israel was involved in the bombardment of the hospital.

Further, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement that the IDF “did not conduct any operations” in the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital area at the time it was bombed.

Palestinian officials have said the hospital was hit in an Israeli strike, adding that between 200 to 300 people were killed, citing preliminary estimates.

CNN’s Martin Goillandeau and Tamar Michaelis contributed reporting to this post.

The Pentagon said there will continue to be a “steady flow of weapons” to Israel from the United States.

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said that as of Tuesday, “there have been five C-17 aircraft missions that have successfully carried a range of security assistance into Israel.”

Those flights happened between October 12-16, Singh said.

Some context: In addition to sending weapons, the US is also bolstering its presence in the Middle East as it works to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from widening any further.

A US Marine rapid response force is headed to the waters off the coast of Israel and the Pentagon is preparing American troops for a potential deployment to the country, multiple defense officials said over the weekend.

Two defense officials familiar said the rapid response force will join a growing number of US warships and forces converging on Israel as the US seeks to send a message of deterrence to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has canceled his meeting with US President Joe Biden after a strike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, according to Palestinian officials — a decision that comes on the eve of the US president’s high-stakes visit to the region.

Abbas is traveling back to Ramallah and has called for an urgent meeting of the Palestinian leadership tonight following the strike on the hospital.

Palestinian officials have said between 200 to 300 people were killed in an Israeli strike, citing preliminary estimates.

Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told CNN Tuesday that the “IDF does not target hospitals,” adding, “we only target Hamas strongholds, arms depots and terror targets.”

Heinrich’s comments came after Palestinian officials said that preliminary estimates indicate between 200 to 300 people were killed in an Israeli strike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.

While Israel says “IDF does not target hospitals,” the UN and Doctors Without Borders say during the past 10 days, Israeli airstrikes have struck medical facilities, including hospitals and ambulances.

An injured person is assisted after what Palestinian officials are calling an Israeli air strike hit a hospital, on Tuesday, October 17.

The strike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City was a “cold-blooded massacre,” according to a statement released late Tuesday by the Palestinian foreign ministry.

The hospital attack will “forever remain a stain on the conscience of humanity that has been witnessing the horrors committed against the Palestinian people without taking action to stop it,” the statement read.

Palestinian officials have said preliminary estimates indicate between 200 to 300 people were killed in the Israeli strike on the hospital in the center of Gaza City.

The statement continued:

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the IDF is looking into the reported strike, saying since it was fairly recent, the IDF is still unclear whether the hospital was hit by an Israeli Air Force (IAF) strike or failed Hamas launch. 

Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi warned Hezbollah against any attacks on Israel as he toured the military’s Northern Command near Lebanon on Tuesday.

“If Hezbollah makes a mistake and strikes us, it will be destroyed, destroyed, destroyed,” Halevi said.  

“Each one of us will do anything, including risking our own lives. Why is that?” he asked soldiers. “We’re fighting over our home, our civilians, our sovereignty, our deterrence and our existence in the future.”  

The crossfire on Lebanon’s border with Israel is dwarfed by the scale and intensity of the Hamas-Israel war to the south.

The border fighting is within a roughly four-kilometer (2.5-mile) radius of either side of the demarcation line, with at least 13 people killed since last Saturday.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning for the victims of the Israeli airstrike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, which the Palestinian Health Ministry said resulted in an estimated hundreds of deaths.

In a statement released by his office, the president also ordered that flags be flown at half-mast for the victims of the “Israeli aggression on al-Ahli hospital and for all the people killed by the occupation.”

The hospital was sheltering thousands of displaced people, the ministry said.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari has said the IDF is looking into the reported strike. 

Fire in the vicinity of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital following what Palestinian officials are saying was an Israeli strike.

Preliminary estimates indicate between 200 to 300 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in the center of Gaza City, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement Tuesday, noting many people still remained beneath the rubble.

The Palestinian government in Gaza said in an earlier statement that the strike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital had resulted in dozens of deaths.

Hamas released a statement on the strike, calling it a “genocide.”

“The Al-Ahli Hospital Massacre in the heart of Gaza Strip is a genocide. Enough silence on the aggression and recklessness of the occupation,” Hamas said in a statement.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the IDF is looking into the reported strike, saying since it was fairly recent, the IDF is still unclear whether the hospital was hit by an Israeli Air Force (IAF) strike or failed Hamas launch. 

Kareem Khadder contributed reporting to this post.

Survivors of the Nova festival being treated at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center shared their experiences with ambassadors and dignitaries from 30 different countries.  

Survivors of the Nova festival who are being treated at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel’s largest acute care facility, shared their experiences with ambassadors and dignitaries from 30 different countries.  

The foreign dignitaries, who are all posted at their countries’ embassies in Israel, joined an organized tour of the center, commonly referred to as Ichilov in Israel. 

Ambassadors from the European Union, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Taiwan, Philippines, Ecuador, Colombia, Kosovo and Singapore were all in attendance. Senior representatives from Germany, Hungary, Russia, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia were also there. 

Shirlee Gabay told the assembled crowd that she and her friends started to run as soon as they heard gunshots. They managed to drive away from the scene and found a shelter to hide in. 

“I was on the ground sitting and they came in and there were many gunshots,” she said, adding that she was shot in the knee. 

She said that “it became quieter” as the people around her began to die. She told the visitors that one woman’s body was slumped against hers “for hours.”

Taly Moalem, a resident of the city of Ofakim, asked for the world to support Israel. “We want our children, we want peace and we want to be a healthy nation in our country because we don’t have another,” Moalem said.

Remember: The music festival, which took place in a rural farmland area near the Gaza-Israel border, was just one of multiple locations where militant group Hamas carried out a surprise attack on October 7. At least 260 bodies have been discovered at the site, with others believed to have been taken hostage in Gaza.

Employees with UNRWA distribute aid to displaced Palestinians at a school in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 16.

“Intense discussions” are underway regarding the United Nations’ humanitarian efforts in Gaza, the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general said Tuesday, as widespread displacement, dwindling supplies and fuel shortages contribute to a mounting crisis.

The spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, did not say whether UN Secretary-General António Guterres will visit Gaza or Israel during his travels to the Middle East later this week, adding the secretary-general’s travel plans are very fluid.

At least 20 humanitarians from the United Nations and Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement have been killed in Gaza, the UN said. Supplies continue to dwindle in what the agency described as “utter catastrophe.”

Of those killed, 15 staffers were from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and five were from the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, according to Joyce Msuya, the assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator at the UN.

UNRWA schools shelter more than half of the displaced population in central-south Gaza, according to Msuya, but will only be able to operate small desalination plants in those shelters “for a few more days” without more fuel.

Displaced Palestinians take shelter at a UNRWA school in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on October 15.

The UNRWA secured five trucks worth of fuel to operate Gaza’s main seawater desalination plans on Monday, but that will only keep facilities operating “for a week or so,” the UN said. 

Hospitals in Gaza have entered a stage of “actual collapse” due to electricity cuts and fuel shortages, a spokesperson from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said earlier Tuesday.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, pictured in July, pledged their support for Israel on Tuesday.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed their resolve to support Israel during the ongoing war with Hamas, saying they would spend the coming weeks reaching a bipartisan agreement to provide aid for Israel’s counterterrorism operations. 

Schumer, a New York Democrat, has “a list” of the support requested by Israeli leaders, including weaponry and humanitarian aid, he said. 

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, called for the Senate to return to “investing in a sort of American strength that can protect our people, equip our allies, and lead the coalition to destroy terrorists who threaten the entire civilized world.”

The US should call on countries with relations with Hamas to “push immediately and forcefully — release the hostages,” McConnell said, and “to deny a safe haven to those who aid and abet terrorist violence.”

Palestinians wait at the Rafah border crossing in Gaza on Monday, October 16.

As Israel responds to the October 7 attacks by Hamas, it has rained down bombs on Gaza, shut off the supply of water, electricity, food and fuel, and blockaded the coastal enclave by land, air and sea.

Where Palestinians will go is anyone’s guess. A border crossing with Egypt in the south, located in Egypt’s north Sinai, has been touted as the last hope for Gazans to escape, and many Palestinians have begun moving in its direction in anticipation.

That crossing at Rafah however is shut, with aid unable to get into Gaza. Here’s what we know about the crossing:

The importance of Rafah crossing: Before the war that started this month, Israel had two crossings with Gaza: Erez, which is for the movement of people, and Kerem Shalom, for goods. Both were heavily restricted and have been shut since the war began. That has left the Rafah Crossing with Egypt as the territory’s only entry-point to the outside world.

According to United Nations figures, an average of 27,000 people crossed the border each month as of July this year. The border was open for 138 days and closed for 74 this year until that month. Closures often depend on the security and political situation on the ground. While Israel has no direct control over the crossing, Egypt’s closures often coincide with Israel’s own tightening of restrictions on Gaza.

A satellite image shows the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt on October 15.

What’s it like to cross Rafah border: Only Gazans with permits as well as foreign nationals can use it to travel between Gaza and Egypt. Gazans wishing to cross the border often have long waits. Jason Shawa, a Palestinian American from Seattle who lives in Gaza, says the process has taken him a minimum of 30 days, but wait times could last up to three months.

On the day of departure, a bus would take travelers from the Palestinian side of the border to the Egyptian one, where they would wait hours for Egyptian authorities to receive and process visa applications. Many travelers are turned away there, Shawa said, adding that Palestinians are regularly mistreated there.

What’s it like now: Israel has struck the crossing multiple times since the war began. Asked about the bombing, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said on Tuesday: “When we see Hamas targets moving, we will take care of it.” Dozens of trucks are on the Egyptian side of the crossing waiting to get into Gaza. Egypt has said there has been no progress in efforts to open it.

Egypt’s reluctance to open the crossing: The United States has been pressuring Egypt to establish a humanitarian corridor for civilians in Gaza, as well as for foreigners. Egypt, which already hosts millions of migrants, is uneasy about the prospect of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees crossing into its territory. More than 2 million Palestinians live in Gaza. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi last week said his country is trying to help – within limits.

Many have also fumed at the idea of turning the Gazan population into refugees once again by displacing them from Gaza. Most Gazans are registered by the UN as refugees, whose ancestors came from areas that are now part of Israel.

Read more here.

Israeli airstrikes hit two densely populated refugee camps in central Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, resulting in casualties.

Al-Bureij refugee camp: At least 12 people were killed and dozens were injured as a result of an airstrike that hit a residential building in the camp in central Gaza, according to a doctor at the Al-Aqsa Hospital. 

A high-level Hamas commander, Ayman Nofal “Abu Ahmed,” was also killed in the strike on the Bureij refugee camp, according to a statement from Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed in a statement the commander was killed in its airstrikes. 

Al-Maghazi refugee camp: Israeli shelling also hit a school in the camp located in central Gaza that was housing displaced people, the Palestinian Ministry of Interior said on Tuesday. At least six people were killed, according to the Al-Aqsa Hospital.

CNN has reached out to Israel Defense Forces to comment on these claims. 

The death toll is expected to rise. Dozens were injured, including UN staffers, according to a statement from Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that ran the school. The school also suffered severe structural damage, the statement added.

“This is outrageous and it again shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians. No place is safe in Gaza anymore, not even UNRWA facilities,” Lazzarini said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan on Tuesday ahead of President Joe Biden’s meeting with the leader during his own upcoming visit to the Middle East.

Blinken met with Abbas less than a week ago in Amman — one of his first meetings in his extensive seven-nation trip. A senior State Department official said Blinken asked Abbas in that meeting “to continue to maintain stability in the West Bank.” 

Abbas made clear in that meeting “he would very much be opposed to” Palestinians being forced from Gaza.

The official said:

US President Joe Biden speaks at a dinner in Washington, DC, on Saturday, October 14.

It took an explicit commitment from his Israeli counterpart to open Gaza for humanitarian aid for President Joe Biden to agree to make an extraordinary wartime trip to Tel Aviv.

While the trip will amount to a dramatic show of support for Israel as it prepares its response to last week’s Hamas attacks, it will also act as Biden’s strongest push for easing the suffering of civilians and allowing those who want to leave Gaza out.

The high-stakes diplomacy with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his interlocutor of four decades, underscores the delicate balance Biden is striking as he embarks upon the last-minute wartime visit later on Tuesday evening.

At stake are the lives of millions of civilians, including Americans, currently stuck in the coastal Palestinian enclave where a humanitarian crisis is underway as Israeli troops mass at its borders ahead of an expected ground invasion.

While there was no explicit stipulation from the US that Israel not launch its invasion until Biden leaves the region, that’s the understanding among American officials who have spent the past several days debating and planning the president’s visit, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

American officials want humanitarian plans for Gaza fully signed off on and implemented before start of the invasion, the people said, describing that task as among Biden’s main objectives during his visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

While Biden has stopped well short of encouraging a ceasefire – the word hasn’t been used at all in the administration’s response so far – he has issued steadily stronger warnings about protecting civilian life, including during his telephone calls with Netanyahu.

Traveling to Israel in person may provide Biden – who despises Zoom calls and has long espoused the importance of face-to-face meetings – a better opportunity to convey those views to his Israeli counterpart, a leader with whom he believes he has a deep understanding.

Ultimately, Biden and his senior aides believe that they need to be in the room with Netanyahu to have influence with the prime minister and his team – requiring unequivocal support for Israel’s right to defend itself and eliminate Hamas.

But they’re also acutely aware that public support for Israel will not last forever, particularly if civilians in Gaza bear the brunt of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks – requiring a degree of calibration by the president.

This is a posture that one official called an effort to “hug them close” to continue to work side-by-side throughout what’s expected to be a very difficult period ahead.

Read more on Biden’s trip here.

Volunteers load food and supplies onto trucks headed towards Gaza in North Sinai, Egypt, on Monday, October 16.

Israel will allow humanitarian aid into southern Gaza, its national security adviser said Tuesday, but warned it would be stopped if Hamas was found to be intervening.

The aid “needs to be directed only to those who flee rather than to Hamas,” Tzachi Hanegbi said at a news conference, accusing Hamas of “robbing their stash.”

Israel has been urging residents of northern Gaza to flee south, but Hanegbi said those warnings had been stifled by Hamas, who he claimed is trying to use the civilian population as “human shields.”

On Hamas attacks: Separately, Hanegbi pledged to find each person involved in the Hamas attacks on Israel this month, saying, “We will kill them, even if he’s going to hide in a shelter or underground tunnel.”

“Each of these people will not be able to maintain life in the Gaza Strip as they did in the past few years,” Hanegbi said.  

Hanegbi’s comments come as the crisis inside Gaza deepens, with humanitarian aid and people seeking to leave Gaza piling up on either side of the territory’s border with Egypt despite diplomatic efforts to open a corridor.

On Biden’s visit: US President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel Wednesday shows the country “is not going to be alone,” Hanegbi said.

On Lebanon: Hanegbi also addressed the possibility of another front line opening amid clashes along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. The Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah dominates the southern part of Lebanon.

Any threat from the north is regrettable, Hanegbi said Tuesday, “but would not weaken Israel’s resolve.” 

“We would like to avoid having another front, but we will win even with another front,” he added. 

Hanegbi also said that Lebanon is being held hostage by Hezbollah and Iran, saying, “Lebanon has lost the capability to rule its fate.”

If the battle does open up in the north, “Lebanon will not look like it does now or even 50 years ago.” 

Palestinians victims covered in blankets are laid out on the ground at a hospital following an Israeli airstrike on Rafah, in southern Gaza, on October 17.

At least 3,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since last Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

An additional 12,500 people have been injured, the ministry added.

In Gaza, hospitals have entered a stage of “actual collapse” due to electricity cuts and fuel shortages, ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al Qidra said in a statement Tuesday.

Israeli police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from Gaza, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, on October 7.

The head of the Israel Defense Forces’ military intelligence branch admitted on Tuesday to an “intelligence failure” by his unit, which he said “failed to alert” the terror attack by Hamas on October 7.

“During my visits to IDF Intelligence bases over the last 11 days, I have repeatedly said that this war began with an intelligence failure. The Intelligence Directorate, under my command, has failed to alert this terror attack launched by Hamas,” Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva said in a letter to IDF’s intelligence personnel — his first comments since Hamas attacked Israel earlier this month.

Haliva’s comments come a day after Israel’s top domestic security official also took responsibility for the attacks.

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar wrote in a statement Monday that, “despite a series of actions we carried out, we weren’t able to create a sufficient warning that would allow the attack to be thwarted.”

“The responsibility is on me,” Bar added, according to Israel’s Army Radio station. 

A hospital in Gaza went out of service Tuesday after sustaining severe damage following Israeli airstrikes targeting the hospital’s neighboring buildings, according to a statement by Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. 

The ministry has issued a plea to all gas station owners and anyone in possession of diesel fuel to contact them to secure fuel for critical medical services, the statement added.

Fuel reserves at all Gaza hospitals are on the brink, with only about a day’s supply left, a United Nations relief agency said earlier Tuesday. The failure of backup generators would endanger thousands of patients’ lives, it added.  

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, center, shakes hands with delegation members after landing at the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 17.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has landed in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, according to Israeli foreign ministry.

Scholz was received by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on the tarmac, a photo released by the ministry shows. 

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Tuesday demanded an end to Israel’s “aggression” against people in Gaza, according to a statement by his office, as he called for humanitarian aid for the besieged territory.

“We must also operate water treatment and desalination plants to address the humanitarian and health crisis facing the region,” the prime minister said. The World Health Organization has warned that water is running out for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.

Shtayyeh called for pressure be put on Israel to abide by international humanitarian law, the statement said.

At least 21 French citizens have been killed following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, the French Foreign Ministry said in a news release Tuesday.

Eleven others are still missing, the ministry said. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna met with the families of those still missing in Tel Aviv on Sunday.

Spain's Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares speaks during a press conference in Madrid, Spain, on October 17.

Spain supports the existence of “humanitarian corridors because it is imperative that humanitarian aid, which these days is more necessary than ever, reaches the civil population in Gaza,” said Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares.

“Spain is ready, and its cooperation is totally prepared, to participate as soon as humanitarian aid can arrive,” he told reporters Tuesday.

“In fact, we are not only maintaining it, but we have increased it with a first package of 1 million euros. More will come, because unfortunately everything signals that new packages will be needed,” Albares added.

At least four people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Alma al-Shaab area of Southern Lebanon on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.

Hezbollah announced two of its fighters were killed in confrontations Tuesday, but it’s unclear whether they are part of the death toll reported by the Red Cross.

Some context: News of the deaths come amid clashes along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Hezbollah — an armed group backed by Iran — dominates the southern part of the country, and while the fighting there appears marginal compared to fighting between Israel and Hamas, it raises fears of a wider war that could drawn in a myriad of actors.

Read more about the clashes at the Lebanon-Israel border.

People wait in line at a shop in Gaza City on October 17.

Shops in Gaza will run out of available food stocks in “less than a week,” with retailers unable to restock from wholesalers due to “widespread destruction and insecurity,” a spokesperson for the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) told CNN Tuesday.

Bread supplies are running short, with only one of the five flour mills in the Gaza Strip functioning due to a lack of fuel and electricity, the spokesperson warned. Meanwhile, people are “lining up for hours to get bread” from bakeries, and only five of the 23 bakeries contracted by the WFP to provide fresh bread to shelters are operational. 

In warehouses, commercial supplies of essential food commodities are “sufficient for approximately two weeks,” but due to damaged infrastructure, it is difficult to distribute, the spokesperson for the UN agency added.

With warehouses located in Gaza City, the WFP is struggling to channel food to the southern region where displaced people are moving.

President Joe Biden is pictured speaking during an event in Washington, DC, on October 14.

United States President Joe Biden “believes that this is exactly the right time to go to Israel and to go to Jordan,” National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said Tuesday, previewing the president’s visit to the region, which is set for Wednesday.

Biden will “speak to other leaders in the region about the humanitarian assistance that we want to make sure it gets into Gaza, about Israeli plans and intentions going forward, how this is unfolding on the ground, and absolutely to continue to talk to regional partners, about those hostages and getting and see if we can getting them home back to their families where they belong,” Kirby told CNN. 

The US does not want this conflict to “escalate and widen,” he said.

Biden will also keep US hostages high on his agenda, which “will be represented in virtually every conversation that he has: with Israeli officials, including the prime minister, as well as President (Abdel Fattah el-Sisi) of Egypt, President (Mahmoud) Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and certainly King Abdullah of Jordan,” Kirby said. 

The US continues to believe that a handful of Americans were taken hostage by Hamas, but there is nothing known about the conditions of the captives, a US official told CNN. 

On the eve of his visit to Israel, Hamas on Tuesday accused US President Joe Biden of falling “for the Israeli narrative,” calling the United States “a culprit in this war against our people.”

Hazem Qassem, the spokesperson for Hamas, said the US stance toward the Palestinian people was “aggressive” and claimed that Biden’s visit was aimed at providing financial and moral support to Israel while encouraging the latter to “commit more massacres against Palestinians.”

Qassem told CNN in a telephone interview: 

A significant number of casualties in Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday were individuals who had fled from northern areas of Gaza to the south, Qassem said. Two-thirds of the casualties were women and children, he said.

CNN is unable to verify those figures independently.

The Israeli military said Tuesday it was responding with “tank and artillery fire towards military posts belonging to Hezbollah,” after “two anti-tank missiles” were fired near the border with Lebanon.

One anti-tank missile was fired at a vehicle in Metula and a second one was fired at a tank in Misgav-Am, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN.

The IDF told CNN that it is seeing “increasing attacks” today on its intelligence-gathering means, and it is working to fix some of the damage caused.

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said in a briefing Tuesday morning that there were injuries on both sides. According to the IDF, two reserve soldiers were injured in Metula and they have been transferred to a hospital for treatment.

A plume of smoke rises beyond the Rafah crossing main gate, as seen in this screen grab taken from video filmed on the Egyptian side of the border.

There have been a number of airstrikes Tuesday about a kilometer from Rafah crossing, according to a CNN stringer at the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

Dozens of trucks are on the Egyptian side of the crossing waiting to get into Gaza, the stringer said.

Some context: The Rafah crossing is the only remaining outlet for supplies, but it has been closed for much of the past week. Humanitarian supplies have been piling up on the Egyptian side of the border, and neither Gazans nor foreign nationals have been able to cross.

In videos filmed by the CNN stringer on the Egyptian side, plumes of smoke can be seen rising beyond the main gate into the crossing.

Khulood Khaled was woken up by the sound of Israeli airstrikes as she slept next to her son last week. Black smoke filled the room, making it difficult for her to breathe. She felt a sense of panic setting in, followed by pain in her abdomen. She thought she was going into early labor.

Eight months pregnant and worried about her unborn child, the 28-year-old decided to leave her home in the al-Karama district of the northern Gaza Strip the next day as the bombing continued.

Khulood eventually made it to the southern city of Khan Younis, but she is now surviving on “a dry piece of bread,” as the territory faces a food shortage and no electricity or running water. “I don’t know if the bread will be available tomorrow,” she said.

Around 50,000 women in Gaza are pregnant, 10% of whom are expected to give birth in the coming month, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Gaza residents have faced Israeli airstrikes in several rounds of conflict over the past few years. But this time it’s different. Israel has vowed “mighty vengeance” after the Hamas militants that control the territory launched an attack on October 7, killing 1,400 in Israel. Between October 7 and 12, Israel dropped 6,000 bombs on the enclave – that’s equivalent to the total number of airstrikes on Gaza during the entire 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict, which lasted 50 days.

Israel has also imposed what it calls a “complete siege” on the territory, blocking supplies of water, electricity, goods and fuel. Human rights organizations have condemned the move as “collective punishment” and “a war crime.” Locals say that Khan Younis is still being targeted by Israeli strikes.

Khulood said she doesn’t know where to go when it’s time for her to give birth.

Read more about the plight of pregnant women in Gaza

Additional reporting by Kareem Khadder, Abeer Salman, Chloe Liu and Niamh Kennedy

Volunteers from humanitarian organizations wait outside the Rafah crossing in Egypt, on October 17.

US President Joe Biden will visit Israel and Jordan on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in the early hours of Tuesday from Tel Aviv. Biden’s mission is threefold – and difficult: To show support for Israel, to press for ways to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and to prevent the conflict from escalating across the region – after Iran warned that the spread of war to “other fronts” might soon be “unavoidable.”

Meanwhile, the situation in Gaza has continued to deteriorate amid sustained Israeli airstrikes that have killed nearly 3,000 people since Hamas’ terror attack in Israel on October 7. Gazans have been urged to donate blood as doctors battle with crippling medical shortages as humanitarian aid is unable to pass through the Rafah crossing from Egypt.

Among those caught in the conflict are as many as 250 hostages taken into Gaza by Hamas militants during their brutal attack. Hamas released the first hostage video overnight, showing 21-year-old Mia Schem, a French-Israeli citizen. “I am begging the world to bring my baby back home,” Schem’s mother said Tuesday.

Here are the latest developments:

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Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday, October 17.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday said if the “atrocities” against Gaza persisted, “Muslims and resistance forces could lose patience,” and nobody would be able to prevent their actions.

Israel has maintained that it is making efforts to minimize civilian casualties by warning civilians to move out of the northern part of Gaza, but the total number of deaths reported by the Palestinian health ministry is close to 3,000.

Some context: A direct link between Iran and the attacks on October 7 has not been established, but both the US and Israel say Iran is the primary backer of Hamas, which launched an unprecedented attack in Israel on October 7 that left 1,400 people dead.

Iran has denied any involvement.

US President Joe Biden has warned Iran to “be careful” with its actions in the region, while French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have both warned Tehran against intervening and escalating the Israel-Hamas war.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 10.

A bipartisan group of 113 congressional lawmakers is urging the Biden administration to “hold Iran accountable” for its role in supporting the terrorist group Hamas after its brutal attack against Israel, according to a new letter obtained by CNN.

The letter, signed by 63 Democrats and 50 Republicans, calls on President Joe Biden to “take all necessary steps to cut off Iranian funding sources.”

It notes that on October 18, UN ballistic missile sanctions will expire under the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“This cannot be allowed to happen. We urge your Administration to work with our European allies to immediately implement snapback sanctions on Iran at the UN Security Council,” it says. 

“The US must also put significant pressure on Qatar and Turkey to cease their support for Hamas and expel Hamas leadership that they host,” the letter adds.

The letter does not reference the $6 billion in Iranian funds that were transferred to Qatari accounts last month as part of a deal to free Americans detained in Iran — a move that has sparked GOP criticism of the Biden administration in the aftermath of the Hamas attack.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday the administration was engaged in backchannel diplomacy with Tehran to send the same message it has been conveying publicly about not escalating the crisis further.

Several people were injured after Israel shelled Lebanese border towns on Tuesday, Lebanese state-run news agency NNA said Tuesday.

Houses in al-Duheira were struck and flares were fired over Ras al-Naqoura, NNA said. 

Israeli shelling on areas along the Blue Line – the demarcation line between Lebanon, Israel and the Golan Heights – in the western part of the country, continued past midnight targeting civilians, it added.

On Monday, two houses in al-Duheira were damaged and caught on fire due to the shelling, the agency said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said shots had been fired from a light weapon toward a number of locations on the security fence between the two countries.

In addition, it said an anti-tank missile was fired “a short time ago” toward an IDF military post adjacent to the community of Margaliot on the Lebanese border.

The IDF said it was currently responding with artillery fire toward the origins of the fire.

Some context: On the face of it, the crossfire on Lebanon’s border with Israel appears marginal, dwarfed by the scale and intensity of the Hamas-Israel war further south.

Yet this barely populated swathe of mountainous terrain could be the launching pad of a regional war, drawing in a myriad of actors, including Iran and the United States.

Read more about the clashes at the Lebanon-Israel border here.

French President Emmanuel Macron is pictured during a meeting in Tirana, Albania, on Tuesday, October 17.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Mia Schem, the woman shown in the first hostage video released by Hamas.

In the video, the 21-year-old says she suffered an arm injury and was brought to Gaza.

Schem’s family held a news conference on Tuesday in Tel Aviv, urging the Israeli government and world leaders to help bring her home.

According to the Élysée Palace, Macron “denounces” taking innocent people hostage and “the despicable way in which it [the video] was staged.”

Hamas said it is holding up to 250 hostages captured during its October 7 attack. A spokesperson for the group said it cannot determine the exact number of hostages due to constant Israeli airstrikes, which he claimed had killed 22 captives. CNN cannot verify the claims.

The Israeli military said Monday at least 199 people are being held hostage in Gaza.

“France is fully mobilized and is working with its partners to free the French hostages held by Hamas,” the Élysée Palace added.

People donate blood at Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, on October 15.

The Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza has urged people in the enclave to donate blood at hospitals and blood bank branches. 

Last week, the ministry said blood supplies were running short in the enclave amid the Israeli bombardment and a deepening humanitarian crisis.

Israeli airstrikes have killed nearly 3,000 people and injured nearly 10,000, the ministry reported earlier Tuesday.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks that killed 1,400 people.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, as seen from southern Israel, on October 17.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Israel is concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but for now there is no ceasefire and the Rafah crossing into Gaza from Egypt remains closed.

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told a briefing Tuesday that IDF bombing was “intelligence-led,” as the number of casualties in Gaza rises. Nearly 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since Hamas’ October 7 attack, according to Palestinian officials.

Hecht condemned the release of a video showing one of the hostages held by Hamas as “psychological warfare.” “This is ISIS’ playbook,” he said.

Hecht accused Hamas of stealing fuel and food from the United Nations relief agency in Gaza.

Israel-Lebanon border: Hecht said there had been further incoming fire Tuesday across the border from Lebanon. An anti-tank missile had been fired, causing some injuries, and Israeli forces were returning fire.

He warned that Lebanon needed to ask itself: “Do they want to risk their future for Hamas? People in Lebanon have to be asking themselves that.”

Asked if Israel was able to wage war on two fronts, Hecht said: “Of course we can. But the level of violence would be very, very bad. But of course we can.”

An ambulance passes through flames while transporting an injured Palestinian, during a demonstration in support of Gaza, in Nablus, West Bank, on October 13.

At least 61 people have been killed in violence in the occupied West Bank since October 7, according to a statement from the Palestinian ministry of health on Tuesday.

The toll included two recent deaths, a 17-year-old in Hebron and a 72-year-old in Nablus, “due to violence by Israeli occupation forces,” the ministry in the West Bank said.

Earlier Tuesday, the ministry of health in Gaza said at least 2,778 had been killed and a further 9,938 injured in Israeli airstrikes over the past 10 days.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to the media on October 17, in Berlin, Germany.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned Hezbollah and Iran not to intervene in the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

“Together with our allies, we as the German government are doing everything in our power to ensure that this conflict does not escalate further,” and to ensure humanitarian access to Gaza “to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population,” Scholz said, adding that Hamas was using the civilian population in Gaza as human shields.

Scholz thanked King Abdullah II for “playing a stabilizing and mediating role for so many years.”

An undated image of Mia Schem, who is being held hostage by Hamas. 

The family of Mia Schem, who was shown in the first hostage video released by Hamas, on Tuesday urged the Israeli government and world leaders to help bring her home.

While holding a picture of her daughter, Keren Scharf Schem said that she did not know if her daughter was dead or alive until Monday. All she knew was that she might have been kidnapped.

When she first saw the video released by Hamas, “I started to shout, I fell to the floor and to scream. I didn’t really know what I am seeing and I saw my baby.”

Schem’s brothers, also at the press conference, said that they “trust the government and all leaders of the world to do whatever it takes to bring all hostages back.”

CNN cannot independently verify where and when the video of Mia Schem was taken and what condition she is in at the moment.

Hamas said it is holding up to 250 hostages captured during its October 7 attack. A spokesperson for the group said it cannot determine the exact number of hostages due to constant Israeli airstrikes, which he claimed had killed 22 captives. CNN cannot verify the claims.

The Israeli military said Monday at least 199 people are being held hostage in Gaza.

When Palestinians in north Gaza heeded the warnings issued in the Israeli military’s phone calls, text messages, and fliers advising them to head south, they thought they were fleeing to potential safety.

The Israel Defense Forces issued the guidance Friday, telling all civilians in north Gaza to evacuate to areas south of Wadi Gaza “for your own safety and the safety of your families” as the IDF continues “to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians.”

However, some Palestinians who followed the evacuation warnings and fled their homes in search of safety suffered the very fate they were running from: Israeli airstrikes killed them outside of the evacuation zone.

The killings underscore the reality that evacuation zones and warning alerts from the Israeli military haven’t guaranteed safety for civilians in the densely populated Gaza Strip, where Palestinians have no safe place to escape Israeli bombs.

In the early hours on Friday, Aaed Al-Ajrami and his nephew, Raji, received a phone call from an Israeli military official – warning him to get everyone he knows and head southwards immediately, the nephew told CNN. Despite following the instructions and successfully fleeing south of the evacuation zone, Aaed’s family was killed by an Israeli airstrike the next day.

An audio recording of the phone call obtained by CNN reveals the details of the brief conversation – which included the IDF’s instructions to flee south of the evacuation zone and no guidance on how to get there. Raji said once they realized who was calling, they recorded the conversation so they could share it with other family members.

Aaed heeded the warning. By sunrise on Friday, he headed south with his family and relatives to stay with friends in Deir Al Balah, a city roughly eight miles south of Wadi Gaza and outside the evacuation zone.

The next day, an Israeli airstrike in the area destroyed parts of the building where Aaed’s family sought refuge – killing him and 12 other members of his family, including seven children.

Read more about the family that followed evacuation orders – and were killed the next day.

Jordan's King Abdullah II speaks at a press conference in Berlin, Germany, on October 17.

King Abdullah II of Jordan warned Tuesday that the displacement of Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt is a “red line,” and said there would be no refugees in Jordan and no refugees in Egypt. 

Speaking alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a news conference in Berlin, the king warned against any forced migration.

He expressed deep concern over the heavy toll of Palestinian and Israeli lives lost, and at the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, which he described as “unacceptable,” both in terms of legal and humanitarian concerns.

US President Joe Biden will meet with the king in Jordan later this week during his trip to the Middle East. Biden is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday.

Hospitals in Gaza received 110 bodies from different areas of southern Gaza overnight Tuesday, Dr. Mohammad Zaqout told CNN.

The hospitals’ director said 40 bodies were received at al Nasser hospital, while 60 victims of air strikes in Rafah were received at al Najar hospital. Another 10 bodies had arrived at the European hospital, he said.

He said the bodies included some extracted by rescue crews from underneath the rubble of houses.

There were 150 people in one house and he said he expected the number of dead to “increase significantly.”

Zaqout said 12 people were in intensive care and were “brain dead,” and would die soon as their situation was critical.

“The injured are in the dozens as well and we still don’t have a precise casualty figure of dead and injured.”

Some context: The Israeli military told 1.1 million people to leave densely populated northern Gaza, including Gaza City, and relocate to the south of the enclave. 

Many families, some of whom were already internally displaced, are now crammed into an even smaller portion of the 140-square-mile territory.

The evacuation advisory came after Israel imposed a complete siege on Gaza in response to a brutal attack launched a week ago by Hamas, which left at least 1,400 dead in Israel.

At least 17 staff members of the United Nations relief agency in Gaza (UNRWA) have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since October 7, the agency said in a statement Tuesday.

UNRWA said that Israeli air strikes had continued in Khan Younis and other southern areas of the enclave.

An estimated 1 million people have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, with nearly 400,000 seeking shelter in UNRWA facilities, the agency said.

Despite IDF evacuation orders, an unknown number of internally displaced persons remain in UNRWA schools in the north, the agency said, adding that it can no longer assist or protect people in these areas.

CNN journalist Ibrahim Dahman chronicles his family's flight through Gaza, in this screengrab taken from video.

Ibrahim Dahman and his family entered the hotel room and looked out toward the blue of the Mediterranean Sea. His two young sons were excited to spot a swimming pool below their window, but this was no vacation.

“But they don’t strike… they don’t strike hotels, right?” Dahman’s 11-year-old son, Zaid, asked nervously, as the family took the elevator down a short time later.

Exchanging an apprehensive look with his 30-year-old wife, Rasha, Dahman replied: “They don’t strike hotels, no.” A gentle white lie from a father trying to reassure his boys as the explosions, once distant, seemed now to be getting closer.

Born and raised in Gaza, the 36-year-old CNN journalist has grown accustomed to war with Israel. Palestinians have watched as Israeli strikes have battered the strip on several occasions in the years since Israeli forces withdrew from the territory in 2005, often in response to Hamas rocket fire. Fighting frequently breaks out between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza, including the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

But for Dahman, this time feels different. While he wants to continue his work telling the stories of people in Gaza, he is now grappling with the reality of keeping his family safe at the same time.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians, including Dahman and his family, have been caught in the escalating crisis. Unlike across the border in Israel, there are no warning sirens, bomb shelters or high-tech Iron Dome defense system to intercept projectiles in Gaza.

Ibrahim Dahman, with his wife Rasha and two sons, 11-year-old Zaid and 7-year-old Khalil.

Dahman has not stopped working since he was awoken by “the sounds of continuous rocket fire” from Gaza when Hamas launched its initial attack just over a week ago, signaling the start of what US President Joe Biden has called the largest massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust.

After filming the rockets whistling in the skies above his home, he immediately headed to the CNN office.

Situated in the al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City, the office has been something of a safe haven for Dahman. It was in this area he began his career in journalism in 2005 when he covered the Israeli withdrawal from the coastal enclave.

The office building sits in what Dahman called a “beautiful, upscale neighborhood in which all press offices and foreign and international institutions are located.” The neighborhood was considered one of the “quiet areas.”

But by Monday, things weren’t so quiet.

Read more: CNN journalist details his family’s flight south from Gaza City

People gather to collect water in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 15.

With Gaza’s last functioning desalination plant shut down, the water crisis has escalated, risking fatalities, according to the United Nations relief agency in Gaza (UNRWA).

On Monday, one line of water was open for three hours only in the south of the Gaza Strip, providing limited water to only half of the population of Khan Younis.

“This does not solve the urgent water needs in other parts of Khan Younis, the Middle Area and Rafah. Only 14 per cent of the population in the Strip benefited from this three-hour opening of the water line,” UNRWA said.

UNRWA added that Gaza requires 600,000 liters of fuel daily to operate water and desalination plants.

Fuel reserves at all Gaza hospitals are on the brink, it said, with only 24 hours of supply left. The failure of backup generators would endanger thousands of patients’ lives. 

A boy carries items salvaged from the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza's Rafah refugee camp, on October 16.

Gaza needs international assistance urgently as it faces an “unparalleled humanitarian crisis,” according to the head of the Hamas-controlled government media office.

As the humanitarian situation worsens, “there is a noticeable decline in [the] international response,” Salama said.

Decisive action was “urgently required” from the international community to halt what he called a campaign of “ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the occupation against the Palestinian people.”  

Earlier on Tuesday, Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization, told CNN’s John Vause that the humanitarian corridor into Gaza remains unsafe due to Israeli bombing, with more than 44 Gaza hospitals targeted and 84,000 pregnant women in need of assistance. 

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks that killed 1,400 people. It has laid siege to the enclave and told more than 1 million people to move to southern Gaza from the north.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani is pictured speaking during the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, in New York City.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani told US President Joe Biden that “continued aggression in Gaza stirs outrage among people in the region and globally,” according to a readout of a call from the prime minister’s office.

The two men stressed “the importance of containing the conflict and avoiding the expansion of war, given the far-reaching consequences it has on regional and global peace, as well as its adverse impact on civilians,” it said.

People hold a mass rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza, on October 13, in Baghdad, Iraq.

Al-Sudani emphasized the importance of establishing humanitarian corridors to provide essential aid to Gaza, according to the readout.

They also discussed coordinating efforts to promote lasting stability in the region and reinforcing the bilateral partnership between Iraq and the United States, in accordance with the Iraqi- US Strategic Framework Agreement.

An Israeli airstrike on a residence in Gaza killed 21 people, Palestine’s Ministry of Interior Affairs said Tuesday.

The strike hit the Al-Jabri family’s residence in the Emirati neighborhood of Khan Younis, the Gaza-based ministry said in a statement. A number of others were injured, but the ministry did not provide an exact figure.

Khan Younis is in southern Gaza, which has become increasingly crowded with displaced civilians after Israel told people to evacuate northern Gaza.

IDF international spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN’s John Vause earlier that he was “not aware of any strikes specifically in those areas but they could have happened.”

Volunteers load food and supplies onto trucks in an aid convoy for Gaza on October 16, in North Sinai, Egypt.

The World Health Organization is unable to get aid and supplies to Gaza, potentially putting 84,000 pregnant women at risk, a spokesperson told CNN.

There are “78 cubic meters of health supplies, which is enough for the basic essential needs for 300,000 people” positioned on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, which is currently closed, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told CNN’s John Vause.

The WHO’s director-general had an agreement with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to open the crossing, but Israeli bombing has rendered the passage unsafe, she said.

There are 84,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with many delivering every day, Harris told Vause. “Babies don’t care about bombs, they come when they come,” she said.

Several hospitals are “out of action due to the physical damage of the bombing,” Harris said, noting that the WHO has documented over 44 attacks on hospitals.

Families take refuge in a hospital after homes were destroyed during Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 16.

Japan will provide $10 million in emergency assistance for civilians in Gaza, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said in a press conference on Tuesday. 

The assistance will come “through international organizations,” Kamikawa added.

“Japan will work with humanitarian groups to ensure that innocent civilians and Palestinian refugees receive food, water, medical care, and support they need,” she said.

The foreign minister reiterated Japan’s firm condemnation of Hamas’s attacks and expressed support for diplomatic efforts.  

President Joe Biden is seen on the South Lawn of The White House on October 13.

The Israeli military does not expect a planned visit by US President Joe Biden to complicate or delay any ground invasion of Gaza, a spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday.

Israel Defense Forces international spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN’s John Vause he believes Biden supports Israel’s campaign to defeat Hamas.

Biden is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday.

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 people in Rafah early Tuesday, according to a statement by the Palestinian Ministry of Interior.

Another statement from the ministry said airstrikes also killed and injured people in Khan Yunis, but did not provide an exact number.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would not confirm whether they launched strikes in those areas.

IDF international spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN’s John Vause he was “not aware of any strikes specifically in those areas but they could have happened.”

“The combat operations continue. We continue to hunt Hamas operatives to attempt to degrade their military capabilities,” Conricus said.

He said the hunt for Hamas targets is part of “the war that has been forced upon us” and Israel will continue military operations “according to the law of armed conflict and of course to minimize civilian casualties.

Palestinian U.N. ambassador Riyad Mansour, background right, addresses members of the U.N. Security Council at United Nations headquarters on October 16, 2023.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday rejected a Russian resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire of the war between Israel and Hamas because the draft did not get the required minimum number of votes to be passed. 

The resolution received five votes in favor, four against and six abstentions, with the United States, the United Kingdom and France voting against due the resolution’s failure to condemn Hamas for its attacks on Israel. The draft would have needed nine votes in favor to proceed. 

“By failing to condemn Hamas, Russia is giving cover to a terrorist group that brutalizes innocent civilians. It is outrageous, it is hypocritical, and it is indefensible,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in justification to the US’ vote. She previously compared the attacks executed by Hamas to the “most heinous atrocities committed by ISIS.”

France’s Permanent Representative to the UN Nicolas de Rivière said “several essential elements were lacking” from Russia’s draft resolution and instead encouraged the council to “unite around the draft proposed by the Brazilian presidency, and agree to condemn this terrorist attack, ensure humanitarian assistance and protect the civilian population of Gaza.”

Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya claimed the resolution failed to get adopted because of the western bloc’s selfish intentions.

“The UN Security Council has once again become hostage to the aspirations of Western countries by not adopting the Russian Federation’s draft resolution on the Middle East,” Nebenzya stated, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

Moscow has previously criticized Israel’s actions and called for a ceasefire.

Volunteers load food and supplies onto trucks in an aid convoy for Gaza on October 16, in North Sinai, Egypt.

Te Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt remains closed, leaving humanitarian supplies piling up on the Egyptian side of the border.

Neither Gazans nor foreign nationals have been able to cross, and Egypt’s foreign minister is placing the blame on Israel, saying there has been no progress in efforts to open the crossing — the only viable outlet to get people out and vital supplies in.

A family of five Palestinian-Americans said they waited for several hours to cross the border, but remain stuck in Gaza with limited supplies and electricity.

The UN says its agencies have supplies at the ready to move into southern Gaza, while the EU is launching a humanitarian air bridge operation to Egypt that will bring supplies to the enclave, the European Commission president said.

Early Tuesday, Egyptian state-affiliated media outlet Al-Qahera News reported that humanitarian aid convoys were moving toward the Rafah crossing.

Here’s what else to know:

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Aid convoy trucks are seen at Rafah border on October 17, 2023 in North Sinai, Egypt.

Humanitarian aid convoys in El-Arish are moving toward the Rafah border crossing in Gaza, Egyptian state-affiliated media outlet Al-Qahera News reported early Tuesday local time.

El-Arish is about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the Rafah border crossing. 

Earlier Monday, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said there has been no progress in efforts to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza, while the Israeli prime minister’s office denied there were any arrangements for its opening.

Airplanes carrying aid from Jordan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the World Health Organization and the Red Cross have arrived at El-Arish since Thursday.

Aid convoy trucks are seen at the Rafah border on October 17, in North Sinai, Egypt.

The United States and Israel “have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced during his visit to Israel Tuesday.

However, it is unclear if any progress was made on the opening of the Rafah crossing — the only viable route to access Gaza.

Blinken said the agreement to work on the plan was done at the US’ request, and they “welcome the government of Israel’s commitment to work on this plan.”

US President Joe Biden “very much looks forward to discussing it further” during his visit to Israel, Blinken said.

US President Joe Biden walks to board Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 13, 2023.

The White House is confronting a new war that has required an immediate reorienting of President Joe Biden’s priorities and schedule, including a trip this week to Israel and Jordan as the situation in the Middle East grows ever more urgent.

Biden’s upcoming trip, announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken from Tel Aviv in the early hours of Tuesday, follows an extensive day of meetings in Israel by the top US diplomat that included a seven-and-a-half hour meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet.

Biden’s visit will build on Blinken’s seven nation, multi-day tour of the Middle East, which comes as the US tries to strike a delicate balance of providing unwavering support for Israel’s military operations while mitigating the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and stopping the war from spreading to further fronts.

Biden had been deliberating whether to make the wartime visit to Israel, a trip fraught with risk that could stand as a dramatic show of support for a top US ally while sending a warning to other countries in the region against escalation. Aides said the president has expressed a strong interest in making the journey after being invited over the weekend by Netanyahu, whom Biden has known for four decades.

The US president will also travel to Jordan, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, where he will meet with King Abdullah II, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The top US diplomat in recent days met separately with the three leaders — all of whom have condemned the situation in Gaza.

Read more about Biden’s visit to Israel.

Smoke billows after an Israeli air strike in Rafah, southern Gaza, on October 16, 2023.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that Israel won’t stop until it destroys Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities, according to a statement from the office of the prime minister. 

Earlier Monday, Putin spoke with leaders from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Iran and Egypt where he addressed the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict.

Putin told Netanyahu that Russia is ready to help end the conflict peacefully, by diplomatic means, according to a Kremlin readout of the call. 

A US Marine rapid response force is headed to the waters off the coast of Israel and the Pentagon is preparing American troops for a potential deployment to the country, escalating the US’ show of force in the region as it works to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from widening any further.

A defense official familiar with the planning said the rapid response force, consisting of 2,000 Marines and sailors, is being sent. It will join a growing number of US warships and forces converging on Israel as the US seeks to send a message of deterrence to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

On Sunday evening, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered that roughly 2,000 troops prepare for a potential deployment to Israel to help with tasks like medical and logistical support, multiple defense officials said.

Taken together, the moves are aimed at forestalling a wider regional war, officials said. But they also risk deepening the US’ involvement in a conflict in which the Biden administration is trying to avoid direct military action.

Officials have stressed that the US has no plans to put American boots on the ground to fight in the war between Israel and Hamas, which Israeli officials have warned could be prolonged and difficult.

But the planning and movements offer a window into the kind of assistance the US might provide, including managing logistics away from the front lines and offering medical support. That could be particularly valuable if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza, which could be complicated and bloody, experts have warned.

The decisions also come as the US military has been steadily bolstering its presence in Middle East, including deploying a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to join the USS Ford strike carrier group there, and sending Air Force fighter jets to the region.

Read more about troop preparations.

The World Health Organization warned Monday that Gaza faces an “imminent” public health crisis as the enclave is running out of water.

The limited amount of water available is creating a desperate situation as the lives of more than 3,500 patients in 35 hospitals located in the Palestinian enclave are at immediate risk, the WHO said via the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The organization also called for “unobstructed access for humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

The US Embassy in Cairo is tracking 253 US citizens, with 153 “associated family members,” requesting help to depart Gaza via the Rafah border crossing, according to an internal government memo obtained by CNN.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised Sunday that “Rafah will be open” after meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and announced President Joe Biden’s appointment of former Ambassador David Satterfield to help coordinate the US aid efforts. 

But hurdles remain. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said there has been no progress in efforts to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Monday, placing the blame for the continued closure of the crossing on Israel. 

In the memo, officials conveyed earlier warnings from the embassy, saying the situation at the Rafah crossing “will remain fluid and unpredictable, and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travelers will be permitted to transit the crossing.”  

CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment.

Hamas released a video Monday night of a young French-Israeli woman being held hostage in the Gaza Strip.

In the video, Mia Schem, 21, says she suffered an arm injury and was brought to Gaza. 

A representative for Schem’s family told CNN they had approved the publication and broadcast of the video.

This is the first video Hamas has released of any of the hostages held in Gaza. Israeli authorities have said that they believe 199 people are being held in Gaza, while a representative of Hamas said Monday that at least between 200-250 captives are being held across the strip.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it had informed Schem’s family about her kidnapping last week and are keeping in touch with them at this time.

They said further that they are using “all intelligence and operational means to return the abductees” and that “Hamas is trying to present itself as a humanitarian organization while acting as a hideous terrorist organization responsible for killing and kidnapping infants, women, children and the elderly.”

A representative of Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ militant branch, earlier said the group was “committed” to protecting hostages and that it would release hostages with foreign citizenship when “the opportunity arises on the ground.”

Schem’s mother, Keren Schem, said she had hoped her daughter was alive before seeing the video.

Keren Schem said she began to believe her daughter was abducted on October 7 after word of the Hamas attacks began to spread, remarking that her family has been doing “everything alone” to work for the return of her daughter, including opening up a “communication center.”

An estimated 1.1 million people live in Gaza City and surrounding parts of the northern Gaza Strip, where the Israeli military has warned civilians to leave before a new phase in its war with Hamas.

The map below shows the densely populated areas included in Israel’s advisory.

It also shows the Rafah crossing to Egypt (bottom-left) — the only option for people trying to leave Gaza entirely, as Israel has tightened its long-established blockade on the territory and completely closed its border crossings.