Israel-Hamas war live updates: Raid at al-Shifa hospital continues; EU top diplomat urges Israel not to be ‘consumed by rage’

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has urged Israel not to be “consumed by rage” in its retaliation for the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, stressing that “one horror does not justify another,” according to Reuters.

Borrell is currently visiting Israel and was speaking alongside the country’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.

“I understand your rage but let me ask you not to be consumed by rage. I think that’s what the best friends of Israel can tell you,” he said.

“But one thing is to defend Israel and another thing’s to take care of the people in need,” he added, emphasizing an EU call for humanitarian aid to the civilians of the Gaza Strip.

He likewise condemned the terror attacks of Hamas and the taking of hostages.

“In the name of the European Union, I ask for the immediate and unconditional release [of captives],” Borrell said.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defense Forces announced on social media they will stop fighting between 10:00 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time for the southward evacuation of civilians from the neighborhoods of Shuja’iyya and Turkmen.

The evacuation corridor will remain open for the residents of the Tal Al-Hawa, Al-Sabra, Al-Zeitoun, Al-Gharbi, Darj Al-Tuffah, Al-Shuja’iyya and Jabalia until 4 p.m., allowing civilians to go through the Salah al-Din routes south of the Wadi Gaza wetlands.

— Ruxandra Iordache

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces told NBC News that the military “can confirm operations in Shifa are ongoing.” The message was sent via a WhatsApp chat designed for press enquires.

The Palestinian National Authority’s official press agency said Thursday that Israeli forces had raided al-Shifa — the largest hospital in Gaza — for the second time in 24 hours.

It cited local sources as saying that bulldozers and tanks had raided the hospital via its western entrance.

It comes after Israel on Wednesday said its forces were conducting a “precise” operation against Hamas in a specific area of the al-Shifa medical complex. The country has faced widespread international criticism over the humanitarian impact of its decision to raid the hospital.

The IDF says that Hamas uses medical facilities as operational bases with large underground networks of tunnels underneath them, but it has so far failed to release any evidence of tunnels found at al-Shifa.

— Katrina Bishop and Ruxandra Iordache

The Israeli military completed a raid on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, including military sites, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson for Arab media Avichay Adraee said on social media, according to a Google translation.

He added that the Israeli Defense Forces also “recently attacked a terrorist who worked inside Lebanon near the Shlomi area.”

In an earlier update, the IDF said that it was retaliating against sources of fire coming from Lebanon, following a “number of launches toward Israeli territory.” IDF tanks also struck a Hezbollah observation post in Lebanon, the military said.

The Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar TV channel said that Israeli artillery shelled the town of Kafr Kila in southern Lebanon. It also noted that the Miskav’am and al-Marj sites in Israel were targeted, although it did not directly state whether Hezbollah had committed the attacks.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since early October, bolstering fears that the Israel-Hamas conflict could spill over into the broader Middle East.

CNBC could not verify developments on the ground.

— Ruxandra Iordache 

U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk has warned of “inevitable” outbreaks of disease and hunger in the Gaza Strip and the potential intensification of violence in the occupied West Bank.

In a wide-spanning briefing following his tour of the Middle East, Turk urged Israel and Hamas to consider the value of civilian lives.

He said the lack of resources and fuel supplies in the Gaza Strip are set to lead to “the complete collapse of water, sewage and crucial healthcare services, and ending the trickle of humanitarian assistance that has been permitted to date. Massive outbreaks of infectious disease, and hunger, seem inevitable.”

Recognizing casualties in both Israel and the Gaza Strip, Turk said: “The killing of so many civilians cannot be dismissed as collateral damage. Not in a kibbutz. Not in a refugee camp. And not in a hospital.”

He stressed the current crisis “extends well beyond Gaza” and said he is “deeply concerned about the intensification of violence and severe discrimination against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

Turk added that disproportionate attacks, or those that do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, are prohibited, as is forced displacement and the taking of hostages.

“Extremely serious allegations of multiple and profound breaches of international humanitarian law, whoever commits them, demand rigorous investigation and full accountability,” he said.

Ending with a call for a cease-fire on humanitarian grounds, Turk said it is “clear that the Israeli occupation must end” and endorsed a two-state solution that would create an independent Palestinian state, while noting “it is essential to acknowledge that Israel has a right to exist.”

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of supporting terrorist factions after the Ankara leader’s criticisms on Wednesday.

“I have to say that the world today appears to be divided by two forces: those who support Israel in its just fight against Hamas terrorism, and those who support Hamas terrorism,” Netanyahu said in a video clip shared on social media, stressing that his country tries to minimize civilian casualties in its ongoing hostilities.

“I have to say that, by contrast, you know, there are forces that support the terrorists, and one of them is President Erdogan of Turkey, who calls Israel a terrorist state but actually supports the terrorist state of Hamas, has himself bombed Turkish villages inside Turkey itself, so we’re not going to get any lectures from them,” Netanyahu added.

Erdogan on Wednesday accused Israel of acting as a “terror state” in light of the civilian casualties of Israel’s ongoing armed campaign in the Gaza Strip. Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel, but diplomatic relations have drastically deteriorated over humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, culminating in the Mavi Marmara incident of 2010.

Turkey has taken a vocal and categorical stance against Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since the start of the latest hostilities.

CNBC has reached out to the Turkish foreign ministry and presidency for comment.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Two schools run by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine have been directly hit by strikes, while another sustained collateral damage, UNRWA said in a Wednesday update.

The agency has repurposed most of its schools as shelters for displaced Palestinian civilians. It is now sheltering 813,000 internally displaced persons in 154 of its facilities in the Gaza Strip and estimates that almost 1.6 million people have been displaced in total across the territory.

“In some areas, the telecommunications companies have stopped operating. It is expected that communications will start to fail as of Thursday 16 November, when telecommunications companies run out of fuel to operate their data centres and major connection sites,” UNRWA warned.

A total of 103 UNRWA staff members have been killed since the start of the conflict, the agency said, adding that this is the highest death toll for U.N. aid workers incurred in a conflict in the organization’s history.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israel’s foreign minister has struck back at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who on Wednesday accused the Middle Eastern country of acting as a “terror state” in its operations in the Gaza Strip.

“The President of Turkey is distorting reality and once again can be found on the wrong side of history, standing next to those who glorified the October 7 massacre of Israelis: Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen,” Eli Cohen said on social media.

“Israel is a law-abiding state, which acts in accordance with international law. Israel will proceed with its war against the Hamas terrorist organization, which is worse than ISIS.”

Erdogan has increasingly ramped up his rhetoric against Israel, citing solidarity with the Palestinian cause and deploying humanitarian aid for the embattled Gaza enclave following Israel’s retaliatory war campaign in the region.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defense Forces said it found weapons, grenades, uniforms and a laptop at the al-Shifa hospital they stormed on Wednesday.

In a video purporting to be shot on the site of the medical complex, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said: “Israeli troops breached here a few hours ago, and we have cleared the area, made sure that it’s safe.”

“Hamas systematically uses hospitals in their military operations in violation of international law, and what we have found, I think, is only the tip of the iceberg,” he added.

CNBC could not independently confirm Conricus’ claims.

Over the course of the nearly seven-minute footage, the spokesman walks through what he identifies as the MRI unit of the al-Shifa hospital, pointing out security cameras obstructed with black tape, “grab and go” bags for Hamas operatives, AK-47 rifles, cartridges, ammo, grenades, uniforms, knives, an insignia allegedly belonging to Hamas and a laptop.

The equipment is said to have been found hidden behind a MRI machine, alongside bandages and medical gear.

“These weapons had no business being inside a hospital. The only reason they are here is because Hamas put them here, because they use this place, like many other hospitals and ambulances and sensitive facilities inside the Gaza Strip, for their illicit military purposes,” Conricus said.

Israel has faced international backlash over the humanitarian impact of its decision to raid al-Shifa, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. The IDF says that Hamas uses medical and civilian facilities as its operation bases and houses beneath its large underground network of tunnels. Israel has yet to release evidence of tunnels found at al-Shifa.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said his country will need to retain a “very strong force” in the Gaza enclave to prevent a future resurgence of Palestinian militant group Hamas, according to an interview with the Financial Times.

“If we pull back, then who will take over? We can’t leave a vacuum. We have to think about what will be the mechanism; there are many ideas that are thrown in the air,” Herzog said. “But no one will want to turn this place, Gaza, into a terror base again.”

Herzog, whose post lacks executive power, speaks amid an ongoing Israeli ground campaign and bombardment in the Gaza Strip, in response to the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7. The Gaza enclave has been under Hamas control since 2007.

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country has closely supported Israel, has said that the only long-term solution in the Gaza Strip beyond the current conflict is the creation of two independent Israeli and Palestinian states. U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken has previously said a transition period may be required, but that Israel cannot reoccupy the Gaza Strip after the war.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck the residence of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Hamas political bureau.

“The residence was used as terrorist infrastructure and a meeting point for Hamas’ senior leaders to direct terrorist attacks against Israel,” the Israeli military said on social media.

CNBC could not independently verify the report.

Haniyeh is believed to reside in Qatar, where the Hamas politburo moved from Syria in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011. Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike on its Telegram account.

Haniyeh replaced Khaled Meshaal as head of the Hamas political wing in 2017, leaving Yahya Sinwar as leader of the militant group in the Gaza Strip.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The U.N. Security Council has adopted a resolution on Israel and Palestinian territories, after four previous attempts failed to gain sufficient support.

Under the Malta-penned measure, the Council calls for the “immediate and unconditional release” of all hostages held by Hamas and for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors” throughout the Gaza Strip to allow access for aid workers.

It also urges “all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population in Gaza of basic services and aid indispensable to their survival” in line with humanitarian law and does not condemn the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7.

The resolution — passed with 12 members in favor, none against and three abstentions — is the first UNSC pronouncement on Israel and Palestinian territories since 2016. Russia, the U.S. and U.K. were the three members who abstained.

Reactions varied:

• Israel’s Deputy Permanent Representative Brett Jonathan Miller criticized the measure as “detached from the reality on the ground,” saying it “falls on deaf ears when it comes to Hamas and other terrorist organizations”.
• Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of the state of Palestine, said the Security Council should have called a ceasefire by now and “at least echoed the call of the General Assembly for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities.“
• Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia stressed that “humanitarian pauses cannot replace a ceasefire or truce,” he said, while emphasizing the urgency of bringing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
• U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Washington could not endorse a text that did not condemn Hamas and reaffirm the right of self-defense from terrorist attacks, expressing horror that some member councils “still cannot bring themselves” to condemn Hamas offensive of Oct. 7.
• November Council President China, represented by Ambassador Zhang Jun, said that the coalition should have adopted a more robust resolution at an earlier time.

— Ruxandra Iordache

U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated the “only” lasting answer to the Israel-Hamas conflict is a two-state solution, but ongoing Israeli action in the Gaza Strip is justified given that Hamas has said publicly it plans to attack Israel again.

“I’ve made it clear to the Israelis that … the only answer here is a two-state solution. We have got to get to the point where there’s the ability to even talk without having to worry about whether Hamas is going to engage in the same activities they did [in] the past,” Biden told reporters after meeting with China President Xi Jinping in Woodside, California.

“Hamas has already said publicly they plan on attacking Israel again … and so the idea they are going to just stop and not do anything is not realistic,” Biden said.

He added that Israeli action against Hamas is going to stop when Hamas “no longer has the capacity to do horrific things to the Israelis.”

— Clement Tan

U.S. House Reps. Mike McCaul, R-Tx., and Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said on Wednesday after their trip to Israel that a hostage deal is nearing, which could also result in a temporary cease-fire.

“They’re actually very close to a potential deal, particularly with women and children, to be able to get them out of Gaza – and it would entail a potential short cease-fire, but I think that was the most encouraging news we had,” McCaul said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that there “could be” an incoming hostage deal with Hamas but did not provide further clarity on the timeline. He has also repeatedly made it clear that Israel will not consider a cease-fire until all of Hamas’ hostages are released.

McCaul and Meeks joined a bipartisan congressional delegation on a visit to Israel, where they met with Netanyahu and other Israeli military officials.

The two representatives have led a bipartisan coalition in support of Israel since the early days of the war, even as financial aid measures have divided the parties at large. In the Wednesday interview, McCaul and Meeks both expressed optimism that Congress would fund support for both Israel and Ukraine after the holidays.

“We think we should have the funding for Israel, funding for Ukraine, funding for humanitarian purposes. And I think we also need funding for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific,” Meeks said.

— Rebecca Picciotto

Israeli forces found weapons during a raid on Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, an advisor to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told MSNBC Wednesday.

“We have discovered weapons and other things. We entered the hospital on the basis of actionable intelligence,” advisor Mark Regev said.

CNBC was unable to independently verify the claims.

— Karen Gilchrist