Israel at war with Hamas after unprecedented attacks

The horrifying details of attacks on border communities are just beginning to come to light, days after Hamas launched a surprise assault on Israel. Kfar Aza is one of the several kibbutzim, small farming enclaves, that bore the brunt of Hamas’ ground assault on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took a CNN team and other foreign press to the site, as they went house to house collecting the dead in body bags and loading them onto a truck. Among those killed in Kfar Aza were children, women and elderly, the IDF said.

Veruv said his soldiers spent “about 48 hours” fighting “waves and waves of terrorists” on roads and in neighboring communities.

The IDF told CNN that civilians were "brutally butchered in an ISIS way of action." It could not confirm the number of people killed in Kfar Aza and would not detail how the people were killed.

At least 1,200 people have died in Israel since the conflict erupted, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said in an update on Wednesday. 

Read more about the Hamas attacks.

When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Beijing in June, China vowed to contribute “Chinese wisdom, Chinese strength” to resolve the longstanding conflict between the Palestinians and Israel.

That pledge, coming on the heels of a Beijing-brokered rapprochement between bitter rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, was widely seen as part of China’s ambition to expand its diplomatic clout in the Middle East — a region traditionally dominated by US power.

A few months on, Beijing’s offer to broker peace in one of the world’s most intractable conflicts is being tested by a fresh outbreak of war between Israel and Gaza, after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel.

So far, China’s response to the crisis — which has left at least 1,200 Israelis dead alongside 950 Palestinians and thousands more wounded or displaced — has been a bland call for restraint from both sides, with no condemnation of Hamas for a rampage that unleashed the killing of civilians and kidnapping of hostages, including children and the elderly.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who touted a Beijing-led security initiative for the Middle East as an alternative to the US-led system when he last visited the region in December, has yet to make any public statement on the conflict.

Experts say this initial response may expose Beijing’s limited influence in the region, despite official propaganda talking up China as the world’s new peacemaker.

Editor's Note: A version of this post first appeared in CNN's Meanwhile in China newsletter, which explores what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. Read the full analysis here.

Hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed and experiencing shortages of drugs, medical supplies and electricity, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned on Wednesday, as a humanitarian crisis rapidly unfolds in the Palestinian enclave under Israeli bombardment.

Israel has stepped up its aerial offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ weekend assault, leaving hundreds of thousands displaced, many cut off from food and electricity.

In a statement, Avril Benoît, executive director of MSF-USA, said the aid agency — also known as Doctors Without Borders — was "seeing shortages of water, electricity, and fuel, which hospitals rely on for their generators."

An MSF clinic in Gaza City was "slightly damaged" by an explosion on Monday, but is still operational, Benoît said. A nurse and ambulance driver were killed in strikes, and several others were injured, she added.

The death toll in Gaza rose to 950 and 5,000 others have been wounded in the Israeli airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry on Wednesday.

At least 1,200 people have died in Israel following Hamas' unprecedented attack on Saturday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

MSF said it does not currently operate medical programs in Israel but has offered its support to Israeli hospitals treating "a high number of casualties."

Some journalists are making the ultimate sacrifice while covering the war between Israel and Hamas.

At least seven journalists have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Hamas launched its brazen assault on Saturday, according to press freedom groups and media reports. That number could rise even further in the coming days as Israel carries out retaliatory strikes against Hamas, while the terror group continues waging its offensive against the Jewish state.

The bloodshed underscores the very real risk that journalists take on as they report from conflict zones, gathering information in extraordinarily fraught circumstances to keep the world informed and hold authorities accountable for what is transpiring on the ground.

Editor's Note: A version of this post first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here and read more about journalists covering the conflict.

In January 2009, CNN's Ben Wedeman, along with a crew, went on the ground to cover what Israel had dubbed “Operation Cast Lead” — the first in a series of flare-ups of various durations between Israel and Gaza in 2012, 2014, 2021 and 2022.

Here's what he knows about how an Israeli ground assault in Gaza could play out based on what he saw then:

Read more here.

More than 263,000 people have been displaced in Gaza during ongoing Israeli airstrikes, with the number “expected to rise further,” the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said early Wednesday.

The figure represents more than one in 10 of the population in the densely populated enclave.

Among those displaced, at least 175,486 people are seeking shelter in United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools, while about 3,000 people remain displaced due to previous escalations, OCHA said in its update. 

It marks the highest number of internally displaced Palestinians since the 50-day escalation of hostilities in 2014, OCHA said.

The Israeli airstrikes have targeted telecommunication installations, destroying two of the three main lines for mobile communications that has disrupted mobile and internet service, OCHA said.

Basic needs such as access to water have also become a challenge due to damage and the reduction in power supply to sewage infrastructure, OCHA said. In Beit Lahia and northern areas, sewage and solid waste have accumulated in streets due to damage to sewage lines and infrastructure, it added. 

The Hamas-controlled government in Gaza said on Wednesday that electricity supply "will completely stop within hours," limiting the ability to provide basic services.

Some context: A humanitarian crisis is swiftly unfolding in Gaza, as trapped residents, many cut off from food and electricity, face a fifth day of Israeli airstrikes in response to Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel.

More than half of its 2 million population lives in poverty and is food insecure, with nearly 80% relying on humanitarian assistance.

On Monday, the UN Secretary-General called for Hamas to cease its attacks on Israel and release hostages and urged all parties to allow UN access to deliver humanitarian assistance to Palestinians trapped in Gaza. 

A Hamas "advanced detection system" used to identify aircraft was destroyed as Israeli airstrikes hit more than 80 targets in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday.

In a separate statement, the IDF said its latest targets included:

Israel, which has declared war on Hamas, is battering the densely populated coastal enclave with airstrikes that have killed 950 people and injured 5,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Nearly a thousand people have died in Gaza since Israel began airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave Saturday in response to Hamas' attacks, the Gaza Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

Some 950 people have been killed and 5,000 others have been wounded in the strikes on Gaza, the ministry said. 

Since Saturday, at least 1,200 people have died in Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Humanitarian crisis: Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant on Monday ordered a “complete siege” of Gaza, and said he would halt the supply of electricity, food, water and fuel to the enclave.

The Hamas-controlled government in Gaza said on Wednesday that electricity supply "will completely stop within hours," limiting the ability to provide basic services.

On Monday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said it has been forced to close all 14 of its food distribution centers in Gaza and “as a result half a million people have stopped receiving vital food aid.”

Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on Earth, where some 2 million people live in an area of 140 square miles. More than half of its population lives in poverty and is food insecure, with nearly 80% relying on humanitarian assistance.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have seemingly stopped the “knock on the roof.”

The euphemism describes a military tactic first developed in 2009 and used in several conflicts since then.

How it works: IDF forces will alert a building’s occupants that they are targeting the structure for an airstrike by dropping a small, non-explosive munition on the roof before a larger strike is executed. Its objective is to minimize civilian casualties by allowing for evacuation in buildings where militant groups keep rockets or ammunition stashed.

Despite the ultimate goal of saving lives, the technique is controversial and has been criticized by human rights groups, who argue dropping a munition on a building should not be considered a warning.

Others say even with the heads-up, there are few safe places for civilians to go in a blockaded strip of land. Gaza is small, just 140 square miles, and one of the most densely populated places on the planet. Civilians, including children, are often killed in the bombardments.

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht explained the distinction between military and civilian targets was not so simple.

What’s happening now: Following Hamas’ attack on Saturday, Israel seems to have abandoned the “knock on the roof.” CNN has spoken to multiple people in Gaza who said they were given no notice when their homes were bombed.

When asked whether the IDF has stopped the tactic, Hecht said on Monday that Hamas did not “knock on the roof.”

This absence of such warnings may be contributing to the significant number of civilian casualties reported so far in Gaza. At least 900 people have been killed in Gaza since Saturday.