Israel-Hamas war updates: White House calls for 'humanitarian pauses'; Gaza Strip situation is ‘desperate,’ UN agency says

Gulf Arab power the United Arab Emirates warned on Friday that there was a real risk of a regional spillover from the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, adding that it was working "relentlessly" to secure a humanitarian ceasefire.

The UAE was the most prominent Arab country to sign the 2020 Abraham Accords, a series of pacts with Israel, which the latter hoped would pave the way to normalization of ties with Muslim superpower Saudi Arabia, but the war dealt those plans a blow.

"As we continue working to stop this war we cannot ignore the wider context and the necessity to turn down the regional temperature that is approaching a boiling point," Noura al-Kaabi, a minister of state for foreign affairs, told a policy conference in the capital, Abu Dhabi.

"The risk of regional spillover and further escalation is real, as well as the risk that extremist groups will take advantage of the situation to advance ideologies that will keep us locked in cycles of violence."

— Reuters

Germany is cracking down on antisemitism.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck warned that "antisemitism is not to be tolerated in any form — whatsoever."

"Jews must be able to live freely and safely in Germany," he said, evoking Germany's historic responsibility to Israel. More than 6 million Jews were killed by German Nazis during the Holocaust.

Since Hamas' deadly attack on Israel, and the ensuing retaliatory strikes from Israel, tens of thousands have taken to the streets in support of Palestinians.

Germany has thrown its weight behind Israel since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, and supports Israel's right to defend itself. Home to large Jewish and Muslim communities, Germany has banned pro-Palestinian protests in a bid to curb public disorder.

There's no place for religious intolerance, Habeck said, making clear that "burning Israeli flags is a criminal offence, as is praising Hamas terror."

Any citizen who does so will have to answer for such offences in court, and those who are not German citizens may have their residency status revoked, he warned.

— Joanna Tan

Bahrain said on Thursday that the Gulf state's ambassador to Israel had returned home and the Israeli ambassador in Manama had left the kingdom "a while ago," confirming an earlier statement by parliament linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip in its war with Hamas which has killed thousands of people has angered Arab states who are concerned with sharply rising civilian casualties and Israel's blockade of the densely populated coastal enclave.

The government statement did not confirm that economic ties had been severed, as the parliament had earlier stated, but said that flights between the two countries had been suspended for several weeks.

The statement did not clarify whether that meant the Israeli ambassador had been expelled.

Israel had earlier said it received no word of any such actions, saying its relations with Bahrain were "stable."

In its statement, the parliament — a consultative body with no powers in the area of foreign policy — said the moves "confirmed Bahrain's historic position in support of the Palestinian cause."

"The Council of Representatives affirms that the Israeli ambassador in the kingdom of Bahrain has left Bahrain and the kingdom of Bahrain has decided on the return of the Bahrain ambassador to Israel," the parliament said in a statement.

"The cessation of economic relations was also decided," it said, without making clear who had made the decision.

Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement: "We would like to clarify that no notification or decision has been received from the government of Bahrain and the government of Israel to return the countries' ambassadors. Relations between Israel and Bahrain are stable."

Any suspension of diplomatic and economic ties, if confirmed, would mark a significant setback for Israel.

— Reuters

The Republican-led House on Thursday passed a bill that would provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel as it wages war against Hamas, but Democrats say it's dead on arrival in the Senate and President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the measure.

The Republican proposal would also rescind funds for the IRS in the same amount, from funding approved in last year's climate, health and tax law.

Democrats said the IRS cuts amounted to a a poison pill, as the money was intended to amp up enforcement and catch tax cheats. A new Congressional Budget Office report says that the overall measure would add nearly $27 billion to the deficit.

President Biden and Senate Democrats are backing a broader approach, pushing for $106 billion for both Israel and Ukraine aid, humanitarian aid for Gaza, as well as funding for U.S. border operations in one package.

Read the full story here.

— NBC News

Israeli troops fought with Hamas militants and encircled Gaza City on Thursday, the military said, as the Palestinian death toll rose above 9,000. U.S. and Arab leaders raised pressure on Israel to ease its siege of Gaza and at least briefly halt its attacks in order to aid civilians.

The Israeli military's chief of staff, Herzi Halevy, said his forces were encircling Gaza City from several directions and "fighting in a built-up, dense, complex area."

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces were in "face to face" battles with militants, calling in airstrikes and shelling when needed. He said they were inflicting heavy losses on Hamas fighters and destroying their infrastructure with engineering equipment.

Nearly four weeks after Hamas' deadly rampage in Israel sparked the war, U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading to the region for talks Friday in Israel and Jordan following President Joe Biden's suggestion for a humanitarian "pause" in the fighting. The aim would be to let in aid for Palestinians and let out more foreign nationals and wounded. Around 800 people left over the past two days.

Israel did not immediately respond to Biden's suggestion. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has previously ruled out a cease-fire, said Thursday: "We are advancing … Nothing will stop us." He vowed to destroy Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip.

— Associated Press

— Getty Images

Representatives on Capitol Hill have taken to social media in support of humanitarian aid for Gazan civilians and pauses in fighting to evacuate hostages.

Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., called for the U.S. to work with allies to facilitate humanitarian pauses for delivery of crucial supplies to civilians.

"As the United States supports Israel's right to defend itself, we must show leadership to reduce harm, including civilian casualties, to Palestinians and facilitate the immediate delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid," Porter said in a statement.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., urged Israel to reconsider its approach to fighting Hamas as civilian casualties continue to rise.

In a statement posted to X, Murphy said Israel has not yet achieved the "right balance between military necessity and proportionality" in the wake of the airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp.

He urged Israel to "immediately reconsider its approach and shift to a more deliberate and proportionate counterterrorism campaign" while prioritizing civilian safety.

— Chelsey Cox

The Pentagon said Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chariman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Brown met with U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.).

The meeting on Capitol Hill comes as the Biden administration seeks more than $105 billion from Congress to support a variety of global security needs, including Ukraine and Israel. The new funding request calls for more than $61 billion for Ukraine and an additional $14.3 billion for Israel.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Johnson earlier in the week.

— Amanda Macias

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, said its shelters in northern Gaza and in central Gaza are at capacity.

UNRWA said that there are approximately 690,000 internally displaced people sheltering in nearly 150 installations across the Gaza Strip.

United Nations Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric added that UNRWA staff working in Gaza and the West Bank have not received payment for the last two months.

"UNRWA, which as you know, is the largest provider of assistance for the United Nations in Gaza, still needs $100 million for its operations this year, including to pay its staff salaries in Gaza," Dujarric told reporters at the United Nations.

"Even as it does its work in dangerous conditions in Gaza, UNRWA lacks almost 2 months' worth of salaries for about 28,000 staff, both in Gaza and in the West Bank," he added.

— Amanda Macias

American voters support military aid to Israel, even as they are concerned that U.S. troops will be drawn into the conflict in the Middle East, according to a new poll.

A vast majority of voters, 84%, are worried about potential U.S. involvement in the Gaza region, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. But the poll also showed a slight majority, 51%, support sending more military aid to Israel.

Republicans polled (65%) indicated the most support for more aid, compared to 49% of Democrats and 46% of Independents.

A majority of voters, 75%, also think prejudice against Jewish people in the U.S. today is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem. This is the highest percentage since 2017 when the question was added to the Quinnipiac poll.

Nearly 7 in 10 voters, or 68%, think similarly about prejudice against Muslim people in the U.S.

—Chelsey Cox

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona met with approximately 20 Jewish students from Towson University, Goucher College, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland-Baltimore to discuss antisemitism on college campuses.

"We're here to listen and to get feedback from you on what you would like to see and what's working," Cardona told the students.

"I want to tell you that the Department of Education is going to do everything we can to make sure you're safe on campus and that you get to celebrate the beauty of your culture without any fear because that's what makes this country great," he added.

— Amanda Macias

Western officials are increasingly concerned that the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas will trigger a wider war in the Middle East.

"Growing outrage in Middle Eastern capitals and much of the world over the plight of Palestinian civilians in Gaza is adding more fuel to an already volatile mixture that has seen violence spread to the West Bank, Israel's northern border, the Red Sea and to Iraq and Syria, where U.S. forces have come under repeated drone and rocket fire from Iran's proxies," reports Dan DeLuce of NBC News.

Read the full story.

— Amanda Macias

Short-form video app TikTok said on Thursday that a hashtag expressing support for Israel in its war against Hamas has received more views than a pro-Palestine hashtag, refuting accusations the platform has pushed content in support of Palestine.

In a blog post, TikTok said U.S. views of the hashtag "standwithisrael" garnered 46 million views between Oct. 7 and Oct. 31, compared with 29 million views of the hashtag "standwithpalestine" over the same period.

"Over the last few days, there has been unsound analysis of TikTok hashtag data around the conflict, causing some commentators to falsely insinuate TikTok is pushing pro-Palestine content over pro-Israel content to U.S. users," the company said in the blog post.

Hamas gunmen killed 1,400 people in Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel's ensuing bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 9,000, according to Gaza authorities. TikTok said it had removed more than 925,000 videos in the region since Oct. 7 for violating policies about violence and misinformation.

The app, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, also said it took down 24 million fake accounts.

False claims about the conflict have spread on social platforms including X, Facebook and TikTok, Reuters previously reported.

—Reuters

President Joe Biden is committed to securing multiple humanitarian pauses for the release of hostages and more aid for Gazan civilians while stopping short of a call for a ceasefire, according to White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

"When we're talking about humanitarian pause, what we're talking about is temporary, localized pauses in the fighting to meet specific goals," Kirby said.

The White House does not formally support a ceasefire, Kirby added, because they believe it would allow Hamas time to plan further attacks against Israel.

Kirby also said that he believes the "vast majority" of Americans in Gaza have made it to the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border.

"We aren't aware of American families that are trying to get down there but can't," he added.

—Chelsey Cox

Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed for Israel and Jordan to discuss ways to mitigate civilian deaths amid the ongoing Israel and Hamas conflict.

Blinken told reporters at Joint Base Andrews ahead of his flight that he would also raise U.S. concerns about the pace of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

"We've been able to establish over the last couple of weeks efforts to get trucks moving. We've had about 50 to 60 trucks a day of assistance going in. We want that to increase and I expect you'll see that in the coming days," Blinken said.

Biden's top diplomat said that he will also further efforts for the release of hostages held by Hamas and the safe passage of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals via the Rafah border crossing.

"We're intensely focused every single day on the hostages and taking every possible step that we can in concert with others to secure their release," Blinken added.

— Amanda Macias

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said approximately 55 trucks carrying humanitarian assistance like food, water and medicine arrived in Gaza via the Rafah border crossing.

"We're hoping that the number of trucks crossing into Gaza will continue to increase," Kirby told reporters at the White House.

He added that since Oct. 21, more than 220 trucks have entered Gaza with humanitarian aid.

— Amanda Macias

The White House said that at least 74 Americans and their family members arrived on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.

"I want to stress that these numbers are changing in real-time," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a daily press briefing.

A day prior, five U.S. citizens were able to make their way through the crossing from Gaza.

— Amanda Macias

An airstrike Thursday smashed a residential building to rubble in the Bureij refugee camp several miles south of Gaza City. One boy, his face covered in blood, cried as workers dug him out of the dirt and wreckage. Others rushed wounded men and women, covered in dust, away on stretchers or wrapped in blankets. At a nearby hospital, doctors tried to stanch the flow of blood from the head of a child laid out on the floor.

At least 15 people were killed, Gaza's Civil Defense spokesperson said, and residents said dozens more were believed buried. The strike took place in the southern zone to which Israel has told residents of the north to flee.

Hours later, more than five minutes of heavy explosions raised clouds of smoke over Gaza City. Al-Jazeera television, which continues to broadcast from the city, said Israeli airstrikes were hitting an area of apartment towers in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood.

The barrage hit around 100 meters (yards) from Al-Quds Hospital, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in post on X. It said there were deaths and injuries but gave no more details.

There was no immediate comment by the Israel military on the strikes. Israel says it targets Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the group endangers civilians by operating among them and in tunnels under civilian areas.

— Associated Press

Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey praised the release of U.S. hostages from Hamas custody "after weeks of public and private advocacy."

"We repeatedly urged the White House, U.S. State Department, and the Egyptian and Israeli governments to do everything possible to help American citizens reach safety," the Senators said after Wafaa Abuzayda, Abood Okal and their one-year-old son Yousef of Medway, Massachusetts were released.

"Their story was seen and heard by thousands of people praying for their safety, and President Biden made clear that securing safe passage for American citizens is a top priority," they added.

Warren and Markey vowed to continue pushing for humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza and support for U.S. citizens, "including our Massachusetts constituents, who seek to leave Israel and Gaza to immediately return home."

— Chelsey Cox

— Getty Images

A White House official confirmed to NBC News that Vice President Kamala Harris met with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the AL Safety Summit hosted in the United Kingdom.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Harris and Guterres' meeting "mostly focused on Gaza humanitarian access." The official added that the meeting was a priority for Harris.

The two discussed ways to accelerate aid into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.

— Amanda Macias

Israeli forces are deep in Gaza City, considered a Hamas stronghold in northern Gaza and also one of the besieged enclave's most populated areas.

"Our soldiers have been operating in Gaza City for the past few days, surrounding it from several directions, deepening the operation," Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the IDF's chief of staff, said in a televised briefing. "Our forces are in very significant areas of Gaza City."

Halevi added that Israel has not delivered fuel to Gaza but that it would do so for hospitals once fuel runs out. "We check the situation every day. When fuel runs out, fuel will be delivered under supervision to the hospitals," he said.

Palestinian health authorities say that nearly half of all of Gaza's hospitals are out of service because they've been bombed or have run out of fuel.

— Natasha Turak

Images show destroyed buildings after an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 2, 2023

— Getty Images

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described as unacceptably violent a series of Israeli airstrikes on civilian areas within the Gaza Strip during a phone call Thursday with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

"The unacceptability of any violent actions against civilians, strikes on residential buildings and civilian infrastructure was noted," Reuters reported the Russian ministry as saying.

The pair also called for an immediate ceasefire and greater humanitarian access to Gaza, including to aid the evacuation of Russian citizens.

"The Russian side stressed the urgent need to organize as soon as possible the evacuation of Russian citizens from that Palestinian enclave with the assistance of Egyptian partners."

Lavrov's comments come as Russia continues its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, as a result of which several thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the U.N.

— Karen Gilchrist

The Israeli air force is currently deploying "less than half" of its capacity in its assault on Gaza, Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi said Thursday, according to Reuters.

The televised comments appeared to indicate that Israel was ready to ramp up its attacks on Hamas and other opponents if necessary.

Israel has launched an increasing number of airstrikes into Gaza in recent days, including two in as many days on the Jabalia refugee camp, which it said killed two Hamas commanders.

Hamas has said that at least 195 people were killed following the Israeli airstrikes at the refugee camp, with a further 120 people missing, and 777 wounded. CNBC could not independently verify these figures.

— Karen Gilchrist

Around 690,000 internally displaced people are taking refuge in 149 shelters run by the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees, the relief organization said Thursday, describing the situation in the Gaza Strip as "desperate."

"Our shelters are almost 4x their intended capacity and overcrowded conditions continue to create severe health and protection concerns," UNRWA said on social media.

The agency has previously noted that its shelters are oversubscribed and reported shortages of water, food, fuel and electricity in the Gaza enclosure.

The Israeli military has told Palestinian civilians in the northern part of the Gaza Strip to evacuate southward, while heavy ongoing bombardment has eradicated other residences.

— Ruxandra Iordache

At least 9,061 Palestinian people have been killed and 32,000 wounded since Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack, which prompted Israel to launch a siege and heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The figures were released on Thursday by the Palestinian ministry of health in a Google-translated statement. They were not independently verified by CNBC.

The health ministry of the Gaza Strip is under the control of Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Israeli and the U.S. have previously questioned the accuracy and transparency of numbers supplied by it and Gaza officials. Last week, the Palestinian health ministry published a report of more than 6,000 deaths it says have been documented.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman donated a combined 50 million Saudi riyal ( $13.3 million ) to a fundraising campaign in aid of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported Thursday.

The campaign was launched on Thursday and is run on the Sahem financial platform by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.

Saudi Arabia has been a historical supporter of the Palestinian people and has condemned civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

— Ruxandra Iordache

At least 195 people were killed following Israeli airstrikes at the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Hamas said in a Google-translated Telegram post.

The militant group added that another 120 people were missing under debris, with 777 wounded.

CNBC could not independently verify these figures.

Israel has previously said that its airstrikes at the Jabalia site targeted senior Hamas commanders as part of its broader operation against the Palestinian militant group in the strip. The Israeli military has in the past questioned the accuracy of casualty numbers released by Hamas, but has yet to supply its own estimates.

— Ruxandra Iordache

U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan posted a voice memo and text message to her Instagram from a Palestinian-American stuck inside Gaza. The U.S. citizen, Zakaria Alarayshi, lives in Dearborn, Minnesota, but was visiting family in Gaza with his wife when the conflict began.

"This is a message is for President Biden. This war must stop. Women and children are dying every minute. Entire families are being wiped out in their homes. We have no food, no water and no medicine and nowhere to go. We are dying slowly," Alarayshi said in the voice recording, which CNBC could not verify.

"We ask you, and we ask our president for an immediate ceasefire and for help to get us out of here. Nowhere is safe in Gaza. They asked us to go south, we did. And now they are bombing our streets, our homes and our shops," he said. "We need immediate help. Is there any humanity left in the world?"

Alarayshi said he and his wife have gone to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, where foreign passport holders have started being able to enter into Egypt in small numbers — but he told Rep. Tlaib that he and his wife were rejected fix times.

"The voices of those who on the ground in Gaza need to be heard now more than ever," Tlaib wrote in her post.

— Natasha Turak

The Israeli military says the number of hostages takes by Palestinian militant group Hamas currently stands at 242, according to a transcript of comments from an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, reported by NBC News.

"So far, the families of 242 abductees have been notified. We are committed to the national mission of returning everyone home," Daniel Hagari said.

The IDF previously said the number of hostages is revised as families are able to be alerted. Hamas took the hundreds of captives during its terror attack against Israel on Oct. 7. Only four people have been released to date, with the IDF rescuing a fifth.

The remaining hostages could give Hamas a firm bargaining chip in the event of an Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, analysts have said in the past.

— Ruxandra Iordache

UNICEF on Thursday decried the impact on civilians caused by an Israeli airstrike against the Jabalia refugee camp earlier this week.

"The scenes of carnage coming out of Jabaliya camp in the Gaza Strip following attacks yesterday and again today are horrific and appalling. Many children are reportedly among the casualties," UNICEF said on social media. The organization previously called for a cease-fire.

Israel earlier this week said it struck the Jabalia refugee camp as part of an operation that killed a senior Hamas commander, Ibrahim Biari. A local hospital said the offensive killed dozens and wounded hundreds.

CNBC could not independently verify the figures.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Egypt is working to evacuate around 7,000 people from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Crossing, the country's Foreign Ministry said Thursday, according to NBC News.

The ministry statement said civilians from more than 60 countries would be allowed to pass.

Evacuations of foreign nationals from the Gaza Strip began on Wednesday for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, after a deal between Israel, Hamas and Egypt that was mediated by Qatar in coordination with the U.S.

Civilians in the heavily bombarded Gaza Strip have been facing extensive shortages of fuel, food, water, electricity and medical equipment.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israel's military says it made two attempts to evacuate international civilians from the Gaza Strip since the start of its conflict with Hamas, but was prevented by the Palestinian militant group from proceeding with the operation.

"We've made two attempts in the past during the war, early stages and then after a week, to get international citizens, specifically Americans out of the Gaza Strip. Both attempts were stopped by Hamas," Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said in a TV interview with NEWSMAX, adding that Hamas was "in a way holding [these civilians] hostage."

CNBC could not verify the claim.

The Rafah Crossing linking the Gaza enclosure to Egypt is the only passageway not controlled by Israel.

Foreign nationals were on Wednesday able to exit the Gaza Strip and enter Egypt for the first time since the start of the war, as part of a deal between Israel, Egypt and Hamas, brokered by Qatar in coordination with the United States.

"We understand that Egypt will be a vital part in the day after Hamas, when we will all have to find a solution for the civilians who are left in Gaza," Conricus said.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Ministry of Health in Gaza told NBC News that the main power generator at the Indonesian Hospital in the territory has stopped working, putting hundreds of lives at risk.

The report comes after a Palestinian Health Ministry official had on Wednesday warned that the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza were poised to run out of generator fuel in hours.

— Christine Wang

The Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, which was attacked by Israel earlier this week, "is a Hamas stronghold," a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said in an MSNBC TV interview.

"Think about, really, hotbeds of terrorist activity, where terrorists have really had a long time to embed themselves within the area and under the civilians, that is Jabalia," IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said.

Israel admitted to launching an airstrike at the Jabalia refugee site, in an offensive that a local hospital said killed dozens and wounded hundreds. The Israeli military has questioned the figures, stating that they are released by Hamas-run facilities but not supplying a death toll of its own assessment.

Israel says the operation at the Jabalia refugee camp was necessary to target a senior Hamas commander, Ibrahim Biari, whom the IDF says it killed in the strike.

CNBC could not independently verify the figures and developments on ground.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israeli military engaged Lebanese missiles overnight, the Israel Defense Forces said overnight on Telegram.

The IDF said that Lebanon launched a surface-to-air missile toward an Israeli drone, and that the IDF retaliated against the "terrorist cell" that fired the projectile.

Further Lebanese launches were identified in the Har Dov and Mount Hermon areas, falling in open areas, the IDF said.

Israel has been exchanging fire with the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since the start of the conflict with Palestinian militants Hamas. Hezbollah has repeatedly cited solidarity with Palestinian people.

Israel accuses Tehran of orchestrating a spate of attacks against its territory through proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas and Yemeni Houthi. Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7.

CNBC could not independently verify the report.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Reporters Without Borders filed a war crimes complaint to the International Criminal Court over journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas war. The organization said its complaint concerns eight Palestinian journalists and one Israeli journalist.

RSF said the Palestinian journalists in Gaza were killed in an "indiscriminate attack."

"Even if these journalists were the victims of attacks aimed at legitimate military targets, as the Israeli authorities claim, the attacks nevertheless caused manifestly excessive and disproportionate harm to civilians, and still amount to a war crime under this article," the organization said.

RSF noted that the Israeli journalist was killed on Oct. 7 while covering an attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on his kibbutz. It said his death "constituted the willful killing of a person protected by the Geneva Conventions, which is a war crime."

The organization also urged the ICC to investigate the deaths of all journalists who have been killed since the war began, flagging this is its third complaint about war crimes against Palestinian journalists in Gaza since 2018.

— Christine Wang

Over 20,000 people in the Gaza Strip remain injured with limited access to health care because of the ongoing bombardment and siege on the enclosure, Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders) said Wednesday.

Urging a cease-fire, MSF said that a new team of its international members is ready to enter the strip as soon as possible to support the local medical response, and that its Palestinian staff continue work within the Gaza territories.

"Around two million Palestinians are still trapped in the Gaza Strip under shelling, including 300 Palestinian MSF staff and their families," it said.

In a separate video address on Wednesday, MSF International President Dr. Christos Christou said, "What medical staff can do is just a drop in the ocean compared to the immense needs .... Our teams still working in Gaza are exhausted and terrified."

He urged, "As a doctor, a surgeon, I implore — give Gaza the cease-fire they need now, so that medicines can be delivered, and they get healthcare."

The Gaza health-care system has been greatly crippled by a deficit of fuel and electricity supplies since the early-October start of the siege, along with a shortage of medical resources.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Multiple countries have announced the evacuation of the first group of their citizens from Gaza into Egypt through the Rafah crossing.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 20 Australians, along with three people who were either permanent residents or immediate family members of a citizen, had been evacuated Wednesday through the crossing. But Australian Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts said 65 citizens, residents and close relatives have yet to be evacuated.

"We are continuing to push for them to be able to make that passage across the Rafah crossing as soon as possible," Watts said.

Bulgaria's government also announced 36 Bulgarian citizens and their family members had successfully left Gaza.

Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel said the evacuation through the Rafah crossing was implemented "in a complex and extremely dynamic situation" and all Bulgarian nationals in the first possible group allowed to leave the Gaza Strip "were in good condition."

Earlier Wednesday, France, the U.K. and the U.S. announced the first of their citizens were able to evacuate Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

— Associated Press

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Tel Aviv, Israel and Amman, Jordan in the coming days.

The department said the secretary will reiterate U.S. support for Israel and discuss efforts to safeguard U.S. citizens, secure the release of hostages, increase aid entering Gaza and preventing the conflict from spreading.

Blinken is also expected to discuss in Jordan resuming essential services and "ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced outside of Gaza." The department said he will also talk about efforts to "reduce regional tensions, and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to working with partners to set the conditions necessary for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East, to include the establishment of a Palestinian state."

— Christine Wang

U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday he thinks there should be a humanitarian "pause" in the Israel-Hamas war in order to get "prisoners" out.

Biden was speaking at a fundraiser for his 2024 reelection campaign when a protester interrupted him, calling for a ceasefire.

"I think we need a pause," Biden said in response. "A pause means give time to get the prisoners out."

Israeli ground troops have advanced to Gaza City in heavy fighting with militants following Hamas' killing of roughly 1,400 Israelis on Oct. 7.

—Associated Press

Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, visited with civilians and humanitarian workers in Gaza.

"Philippe is the most senior official to be allowed into Gaza since the war began," United Nations Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric said during a daily press briefing.

"He said the staff told him that fuel is very much needed for Gaza and that, more than ever, a humanitarian pause is also needed," Dujarric said.

Dujarric added that UNRWA has lost 70 colleagues since the hostilities began on Oct. 7.

— Amanda Macias

Evacuations begin in Gaza; Biden says there should be a humanitarian 'pause' in Israel-Hamas war