Israel-Hamas War Updates: News on the Gaza conflict

The heads of several humanitarian agencies have said they will not participate in “unilateral” proposals to create “safe zones” in the Gaza Strip.

Other signatories included Martin Griffiths, Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, CARE International Secretary-General Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro and Save the Children President Janti Soeripto.

“Under the prevailing conditions, proposals to unilaterally create “safe zones” in Gaza risk harming civilians, including heavy loss of life, and must be rejected, the statement said. “Without the right conditions, concentration of civilians in such zones in connection with active hostilities increase the risk of attack and further damage.”

It added: “Any discussion around ‘safe zones’ must not detract from the commitment of the parties to constantly take care to spare civilians – wherever they are – and meet their essential needs, including by facilitating rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to all civilians in distress.”

The statement comes as the Israeli military has urged Palestinian civilians to flee their homes in the northern Gaza Strip and evacuate to “safe zones” south of the Wadi Gaza wetlands.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine warned it will not hold a cross-border relief operation at the Rafah crossing that bridges the enclave with Egypt on Friday, amid ongoing telecommunications blackouts and fuel shortages.

“The communication network in #Gaza is down because there is NO fuel. This makes it impossible to manage or coordinate humanitarian aid convoys.” This is what UNRWA says in a post on social media.

UNRWA assists in the reception and distribution of humanitarian aid across the Gaza Strip and protects Palestinian civilians in its facilities. Operations have been severely affected by fuel shortages preventing it from crossing the ground.

“We will no longer be able to maintain our commitment to provide for the Palestinian people any longer,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement earlier on Thursday. “I think there is a deliberate attempt to stifle our operation and paralyze the UNRWA operation.”

He also said at the time that the conflict to date has sparked the largest displacement of the Palestinian population since 1948, as civilians flee to the southern Gaza Strip, arriving “dehydrated, hungry, exhausted and shell-shocked.”

— Ruxandra Iordache

Telecommunications services are offline in the Gaza Strip, amid critical fuel shortages.

On Thursday, Palestinian telecommunications providers Jawwal and Paltel issued a joint statement announcing a “complete disruption of communication services (landline, mobile and internet) in the Gaza Strip after access to fuel has been banned and all backup power sources have been used up to function. the main elements of the network.”

They haven’t made any further updates since.

Israel has cut off the Gaza Strip from its own fuel supplies and has only allowed UN trucks to refuel with supplies that can only be used for the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Several primary services, including sewage, well pumping and water desalination, along with medical equipment, have therefore gone out of service across the enclave.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israeli Defense Forces said they discovered a tunnel at Al-Shifa hospital, part of an extensive network believed to span the underground level beneath the Gaza Strip.

The IDF raided the Al-Shifa medical complex, the largest in the Gaza enclave, on suspicion that Hamas was using the facility as a base of operations.

IDF troops say they also found a vehicle used in the October 7 terror attacks at the site, along with earlier discoveries of weapons, ammunition and a laptop computer. CNBC could not confirm the report.

Israel has repeatedly defended its decision to carry out an operation in Al-Shifa despite international backlash, citing that the medical complex had been repurposed for Hamas hostilities. The Geneva Accords state that civilian hospitals “shall not under any circumstances be subject to attack” under Article 18, but Article 19 provides that this protection of medical facilities “shall not cease unless they are used outside of their humanitarian duties to commit acts injurious to the enemy.”

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israel’s military says it has retrieved the bodies of two prisoners abducted by Hamas during the October 7 terror attacks, including one of the force’s own soldiers.

One of the dead was Corporal Noa Marciano, 19, whose death was announced by Hamas earlier this week. The IDF and Hamas have blamed each other for her death.

The other body was kindergarten worker Yehudit Weiss, 65.

The Israel Defense Forces said they have recovered both bodies from a structure next to the stormed Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip and have transported it to Israeli territory.

CNBC could not confirm the reports.

Marciano and Weiss were two of over two hundred prisoners abducted by Hamas.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Syria shot down Israeli missiles fired from the Golan Heights at the surroundings of the capital Damascus in the early hours of Friday, the Syrian army said.

Most of the Israeli missiles were intercepted, but some caused material damage, the army said in a statement.

The Israeli military declined to comment.

Last week, Israel’s military said an organization in Syria launched a drone that hit a school in the southern Israeli city of Eilat and that it hit the group in response.

There has been a wave of attacks in the region since October 7, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel and Israel retaliated.

On November 8, Syria also said Israel had carried out an airstrike targeting military sites in southern Syria as the Hamas-Israel conflict led to an increase in tit-for-tat attacks.

— Reuters

IBM has paused advertising on X after a report showed the tech company’s ads were placed next to anti-Semitic content on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination, and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this completely unacceptable situation,” an IBM spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.

Media Matters for America published a report on Wednesday saying the media watchdog “recently found ads for Apple, Bravo, Oracle, Xfinity and IBM next to posts highlighting Hitler and his Nazi Party on X.”

X CEO Linda Yaccarino has been trying to win back advertisers who stopped their campaigns after Elon Musk bought the company last year. Researchers and advocacy groups have documented an increase in controversial content on X, though the company has disputed these claims.

— Jonathan Vanian

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned on Thursday that with only 10% of needed food supplies entering Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Gaza Strip now faces a massive food gap and widespread hunger.

“Food and water supplies are virtually non-existent in Gaza and only a fraction of what is needed comes through the borders. With winter approaching, unsafe and overcrowded shelters and the lack of clean water, civilians face the immediate possibility. of hunger,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. “There is no way to meet the current hunger needs with one operational border crossing. The only hope is to open another safe passage for humanitarian access to bring life-saving food into Gaza.”

WFP confirmed the closure of the last bakery earlier this week that had been operating with help from the agency due to a lack of fuel. According to the WFP, bread is now scarce or non-existent.