October 14, 2023 Israel-Hamas war news

Palestinian medical services and civil defense crews were targeted by an Israeli strike at the site of a rescue operation in northern Gaza on Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Interior and National Security.

"Occupation forces target civil defense crews and medical services while they were working to rescue martyrs and wounded from the house of the Dahman family in the northern Gaza Strip, early this morning, Saturday," the interior ministry said in a statement. 

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties resulting from the strike announced by the Palestinian interior ministry.

The United Nations has described the situation in the Gaza Strip as a matter of "life and death," warning that the clean water supply for the 2 million people there is running dangerously low. The UN also warned of increasing risks of waterborne diseases. 

Lazzarini highlighted the devastating impact of the blockade on Gaza, which has received no fresh humanitarian aid for one week now.

"Clean water is running out in the Gaza Strip, after its water plant and public water networks stopped working. People are now forced to use dirty water from wells, increasing risks of waterborne diseases. Gaza has also been under an electricity blackout since 11 October, impacting the water supply," the statement said. 

The UNRWA was forced to move its central operations from Gaza City to a location in southern Gaza following the Israeli evacuation order issued Friday. The agency warned that water is now "also running out" at its new location, as thousands of displaced civilians from northern Gaza continue to arrive. 

"Only in the past 12 hours, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. The exodus continues as people move to the southern parts of the Gaza Strip. Nearly 1 million people have been displaced in one week alone," the statement said. 

“We need to truck fuel into Gaza now. Fuel is the only way for people to have safe drinking water. If not, people will start dying of severe dehydration, among them young children, the elderly and women. Water is now the last remaining lifeline," Lazzarini added. "I appeal for the siege on humanitarian assistance to be lifted now."

Injured persons are continuing to stream into hospitals in central Gaza as the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Saturday that more than 2,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip have been killed in the hostilities.

In video obtained by CNN on Saturday, scores of injured people can be seen being rushed into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah. Emergency services at the hospital are seen rushing frantically to carry stretchers of people of all ages in need of medical assistance.

In an update Saturday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said 2,215 civilians, including 724 children and 458 women, have been killed since the conflict broke out one week ago.

The health ministry also said that 8,714 citizens have been injured in Gaza with varying degrees of injuries sustained. Among the injured are 2,450 children and 1,536 women.

The United States intends for the Rafah crossing to be open Saturday to allow Americans to leave Gaza and go to Egypt, a senior US State Department official said.

The US, working with the Egyptians, Israelis, and Qataris, has worked to have the crossing be open from noon to 5 p.m. local time (5 - 10 a.m. ET) for Americans to depart, the official told reporters traveling with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

However, it is unclear if Hamas is allowing anyone to reach the Rafah crossing, the official noted, adding that the situation is incredibly fluid.

CNN reported Friday that some Americans in Gaza had received emails from the State Department advising that the Rafah crossing "may" be open Saturday.

There are an estimated 500 to 600 Palestinian-Americans in Gaza. The official said the State Department is in touch with some of them but did not say how many had reached out for assistance to leave. 

CNN has geolocated and authenticated five videos from the scene of a large explosion along an evacuation route for civilians south of Gaza City.

The videos show many dead bodies amid a scene of extensive destruction. Some of those bodies are on a flat-bed trailer that appears to have been used to carry people away from Gaza City. They include at least several children. There are also a number of badly burned and damaged cars.

It’s unclear what caused the widespread devastation; the explosion occurred on Salah Al-Deen street on Friday afternoon.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on any airstrikes in the same location.

The IDF told civilians in and around Gaza City Friday that they must move south to avoid being caught up in Israeli military operations.​

Hamas media office told CNN Saturday Israeli military airstrikes had killed 70 people and injured a further 200 evacuees in Gaza after issuing the warning Friday for civilians to evacuate to the south.

Earlier, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that “large numbers” of dead and injured people had arrived at Al-Shifa Hospital after they were shelled on their way from northern Gaza to the south. 

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi condemned Israel's actions in Gaza on Saturday, accusing Israel of breaching international law. 

Labeling Israel's choice to "displace Palestinians" as "unacceptable" and tantamount to a "war crime," Safadi said during a press conference that the international community must respond consistently to breaches of international statutes.

Safadi emphasized that the foremost priority should be ensuring that the humanitarian aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza.

Earlier Saturday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said medical supplies intended for Gazans had landed in Egypt close to the Rafah crossing but had yet to be deployed as the organization waited for access through the crossing.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Friday that “Palestine is now in a critical situation,” and the ongoing conflict “has caused heavy civilian casualties.”

In a joint press conference with the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday, China’s top diplomat reiterated that Beijing is on the side of “fairness and justice” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Warning that the humanitarian situation for Palestinians “is rapidly deteriorating,” Wang said that China “condemns all acts that harm civilians and opposes any violation of international law.”

He also listed four priorities that China deems “pressing given the severity of the current situation.”

First, as per Wang, is the need to “stop the fighting as soon as possible” to avoid further deterioration of the situation. 

Second is to adhere to international humanitarian law and prevent a severe disaster by opening “a humanitarian rescue and assistance passage as quickly as possible,” Wang said.

The third priority, according to the diplomat, is for the “relevant countries” to “exercise restraint, take an objective and just position, work for de-escalation of the conflict.”

The fourth priority listed by Wang suggested “the UN should play its due role” and build international consensus and “take real measures” to achieve the first three goals.

Wang said that “China is communicating with the relevant parties” and added that Beijing “will provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Gaza Strip and the Palestinian National Authority through the UN.”

He also said that “the injustice to Palestine has dragged on for over half a century,” and called to end it with “the two-state solution and an independent State of Palestine,” saying “This is how Palestine and Israel could coexist in peace.”

What is the two-state solution? The two-state solution – an Israeli state next to a Palestinian state, existing side by side in peace – has been the goal of the international community for decades, dating back to the 1947 UN Partition Plan, and many nations say that it is the only way out of the conflict.

It would recognize a 1967 demarcation line known as the Green Line to partition Palestinian and Israeli land, subject to land swaps based on negotiations, and it would divide Jerusalem between the two states.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has never been a full-throated supporter of a two-state solution, weaving in and out of different definitions of what that would mean. But in recent years he’s settled on the idea that he’d be open to a Palestinian state - as long as it has no military or security power, an arrangement that would have no parallel among modern sovereign states.

A hospital in Gaza has been using ice cream trucks from local factories as makeshift morgues to supplement the overflowing hospital mortuaries. 

Yasser Khatab, a forensic pathologist in al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, said in a video message sent to CNN on Saturday that the Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah is unable to accommodate the increasing number of deceased.

Khatab added that some bodies remain stored for days before being collected. 

Echoing a plea for assistance, the forensic pathologist stressed that Gaza was in crisis.

"Gaza needs relief aids," Khatab said, specifying the need for mortuary refrigerators and medical equipment as well as "coffins and equipment to deal with dead bodies." 

Violence has risen in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since Israel declared its war on Hamas and continued to strike Gaza over the past week.

The death toll climbed to 53, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in an update on Saturday morning, while more than 1,100 people have been injured.

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

In a separate statement, the Palestinian health ministry said that a 27-year-old Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank. He arrived at Jericho Government hospital with a bullet wound to the head, according to the health ministry.

What’s behind violence there? Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli military forces erupted in several areas in the occupied West Bank amid a closure that was imposed by the military following Hamas' attack Saturday.

The closure includes checkpoints and roadblocks set up by the Israeli military at various entry and exit points – and limits the movement of Palestinians within the West Bank and between the West Bank and Israel, according to several Palestinian residents who spoke to CNN on Wednesday. 

Palestinians living in the West Bank told CNN the closure has significantly affected their daily lives, restricting their ability to travel for work, school, medical treatment, and other essential activities.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said earlier this week that the military was on high alert in the West Bank, adding it was preparing to thwart any potential attacks.