Israel-Hamas war updates: U.S. reps say hostage deal is 'very close'; WHO criticizes Israeli raid on Gaza hospital

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

A demonstrator places flowers on white-shrouded body bags representing victims in the Israel-Hamas conflict in front of the White House on Nov. 15.

— Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

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

The United Nations Security Council is set to vote later Wednesday on a draft resolution that calls for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip to enable aid access, Reuters cited diplomats as saying.

Some of the sources cited said they anticipated that the 15-member panel would adopt the resolution, though some countries were expected to abstain.

In order to pass, a resolution requires least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Russia, China, France or the United Kingdom.

— Karen Gilchrist

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations expressed her country's "indignation" toward a meeting between UN officials and Iran's foreign minister in Geneva to discuss the future of Gaza.

In a post on social media, Meirav Eilon Shahar said "Iran has no place in the future of Gaza. It is part of the problem, not the solution."

According to the Times of Israel, the "previously undisclosed" meeting was hosted by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, an organization which aims to mediate and resolve armed conflicts.

— Karen Gilchrist

The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday condemned Israel's incursion into Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital as "totally unacceptable."

Israel Defense Forces raided the hospital earlier Wednesday, in what the army dubbed a "precise and targeted operation" against Hamas militants it says are based there.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in Geneva that "hospitals are not battlegrounds," and said patients and staff must be protected even if hospitals were used for military purposes.

The director-general, who earlier said the WHO had lost touch with health personnel at Shifa, said the organization had no reports of the numbers of deaths and injuries in Gaza for the last three days.

He also reiterated calls for a cease-fire and better access for aid into Gaza.

— Karen Gilchrist

The director of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital said Wednesday that the building no longer has access to water, electricity and medical oxygen supplies, and that he is unable to contact doctors throughout the hospital, according to an interview with Al Jazeera.

"The occupation army is in the dialysis building without bothering to bring fuel to help patients. We cannot reach the pharmacy to treat patients as the occupation shoots everyone who moves," Muhammad Abu Salmiya said.

"The patients' wounds began to rot significantly after all services in the hospital stopped. The smell of death wafts everywhere," he added.

CNBC could not independently verify the claims. It comes after Israel Defense Forces raided the hospital earlier Wednesday, which it claims is a Hamas military base.

— Karen Gilchrist

Around 70% of the people in the Gaza Strip will not have clean water by the end of Wednesday, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine said on social media, urging further fuel supplies to power up critical infrastructure and services.

"Key services including water desalination plants, sewage treatments and hospitals have ceased to operate. To have fuel for trucks only will not save lives anymore. Waiting longer will cost lives," UNRWA said.

Earlier, the agency said that Israeli authorities allowed U.N. trucks to receive 23,000 liters of fuel at the Rafah crossing, but only allowed these supplies to be used to transport aid and not for broader humanitarian action.

Widespread fuel shortages have pulled offline some medical equipment, water desalination units, as well as water wells and sewage pumps across the Gaza enclave, according to UNRWA.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Trucks carrying fuel cross into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 15, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

-Getty Images

The Gaza Strip faces a complete telecommunications blackout "in the coming hours," local telecom firms Paltel and Jawwal said in a joint statement on social media.

"We regret to announce the shutdown of all generators operating ... in the beloved Gaza Strip due to running out of fuel as core elements of the network have become dependent on the remaining power storage sources (batteries) leading to the disruption of all telecommunication services in the next few hours," the companies said.

Power outages and communication blackouts have become widely spread in the Gaza enclave, as heavy bombardment impairs telecom infrastructure and the region runs out of fuel to power critical infrastructure.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Palestinian militant group Hamas has blamed U.S. President Joe Biden for the Israeli military's raid of the al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement posted on Telegram and translated by NBC News, Hamas said that the U.S. and Israel would be held accountable for harm to civilians, adding that the U.S.' endorsement of Israel had encouraged its incursion.

"The White House and the Pentagon's adoption of the false occupation narrative, claiming that the resistance is using the Shifa Medical Complex for military purposes, was a green light for the occupation to commit more massacres against civilians to force them to forcibly migrate from the north to the south to complete the occupation plan that aims to displace our people, as stated by many ministers by the occupying entity," the Palestinian militant group said.

Israeli military said it entered the al-Shifa hospital on suspicion that its premises were used to hide subterranean Hamas infrastructure, repeatedly accusing the militants of using non-combatants and civilian sites as shields in the war.

Hamas separately condemned the silence of the U.N. and the "failure of many countries and regimes," while pledging that "Gaza was and will remain a cemetery for the invaders." 

— Ruxandra Iordache

The chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees confirmed that U.N. trucks have received just over 23,000 liters of fuel for restricted use, amid power shortages that have taken offline several sewage, water and desalination systems in the Gaza Strip.

"Just received 23,027 LT of fuel from Egypt (half a tanker) – but its use has been restricted by Israeli authorities - only for transporting aid from Rafah. No fuel for water or hospitals This is only 9% of what we need daily to sustain lifesaving activities," UNRWA Director Thomas White said on social media.

Israeli authorities announced earlier in the day that U.N. trucks were being allowed to refuel at the Rafah crossing to carry out their operations.

White further said that several systems in the Rafah region bordering Egypt have now ceased to function, listing 10 water wells that can no longer pump and all three sewage pumps in the area. He also said the water desalination plant in Khan Younis is now no longer operational because of a lack of fuel.

CNBC could not verify this information.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan struck a bellicose tone against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing Israel of a strategy of "total destruction" in the Gaza Strip.

"Israel is implementing a strategy of total destruction of a city and its people. My heart is at ease, I say openly that Israel is a terror state," Erdogan said in Google-translated comments reported by Turkish state agency Anadolu, qualifying Palestinian militant group Hamas as "insurgents trying to protect their homeland and lives."

The international community has largely condemned the Hamas offensive of Oct. 7 as a terrorist attack.

"We will take steps to ensure that Israel's political and military leaders who brutally murdered the oppressed people of Gaza are tried in international courts," Erdogan said.

Human rights groups have questioned whether Israel is in breach of international law in its retaliatory response against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has engulfed civilians. Israel says it is targeting Hamas positions in the territory, with an aim to demilitarize the group and to rescue the over 200 hostage it abducted.

CNBC has reached out to the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs for comment.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The chances of the Israel-Hamas conflict spreading to the broader Middle East region is very high, Russia's Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov said, according to Russian state media.

"I can state that the level of confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians remains extremely high and the degree of expansion of the conflict into the region is, unfortunately, very high," he said, in Google-translated comments reported by Russian state outlet Tass.

"We need to act against this immediately," Viktorov added.

The potential for the Israeli war with Hamas to engulf the wider Middle East has been a primary concern for the international community, following exchanges of fire between Israel and Yemen's Houthi militants, Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Syrian administration of Bashard al-Assad — all of whom receive support from Iran, as does Hamas. Turkey has also increasingly condemned Israel, given hostilities in the Gaza Strip.

Russia had initially aimed for a balanced diplomatic response, divided between loyalties to Israel and Iran and even accepting a delegation of Hamas on its territory. Moscow has turned progressively critical of Israel throughout the conflict.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari supplied a further update of the military's incursion in the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, which it entered overnight.

"IDF forces continue to operate in a targeted manner in a part of the Shifa hospital area where they are scanning for infrastructure and terrorist means of the terrorist organization Hamas. Also, the forces delivered humanitarian equipment and placed it at the entrance to the hospital," he said in a Google-translated post on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.

The IDF suspects Hamas of fostering military positions beneath the hospital and says it is not at war with the civilians trapped in the crossfire.

"In recent weeks, the IDF has publicly warned time and again that Hamas' continued military use of Shifa hospital jeopardizes its protected status under the international law," Hagari said in a separate video address.

"We also gave ample time to stop this unlawful abuse of the hospital. The IDF has also facilitated wide-scale evacuations of the hospital and maintained regular dialogue with hospital authorities."

Doctors and human rights groups have previously said that civilians and medical staff were blockaded inside the al-Shifa and al-Quds hospitals. It is unclear whether al-Shifa personnel or civilians were able to exit, while the Palestine Red Cross Society on late Tuesday said it prevailed to carry out an evacuation of the al-Quds facility.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The U.N. aid chief said he is "appalled" by the Israeli incursion into the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, stressing the need to protect civilians on premise.

"I'm appalled by reports of military raids in Al Shifa hospital in #Gaza," Martin Griffiths, U.N. under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said on social media. "The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all civilians must override all other concerns. Hospitals are not battlegrounds."

Israel launched its overnight raid of the al-Shifa hospital, in what it says is the pursuit of Hamas positions and infrastructure beneath the medical complex.

— Ruxandra Iordache

U.N. trucks delivering humanitarian assistance will be allowed to refuel at the Rafah crossing that bridges the Gaza Strip and Egypt, Israel's agency for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said on social media.

"UN trucks transporting humanitarian aid from the Rafah crossing into the southern Gaza Strip will be refueled today (Wed) at the crossing," it said. "This follows a request from the US administration and is being done in coordination with the relevant security authorities."

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Israel had given approval for 24,000 liters (or 6,340 gallons) of diesel fuel to be used by U.N. trucks for operations in the Gaza Strip, citing an anonymous humanitarian source. COGAT did not specify the amount of fuel that will be permitted in its Wednesday update.

Human rights and aid agencies have repeatedly called for deliveries of fuel to allow them to transport and distribute the humanitarian supplies and reach civilians in need.

COGAT further said that incubators, baby food and medical supplies delivered by the Israel Defense Forces have reached the al-Shifa hospital, which the Israeli military raided overnight.

"Medical teams and Arabic speaking soldiers are on the ground to ensure that these supplies reach those in need. Our war is with Hamas, not the people in Gaza."

It is unclear how the medical equipment will function once at al-Shifa, which faces critical power shortage and has been unable to operate in a hospital capacity amid a severe depletion of its supplies and ongoing bombardment exacerbated by the latest incursion.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Every day in the Gaza Strip brings desperate uncertainty as the war intensifies, Palestinian residents have told CNBC.

"The nights are the scariest and longest as the bombs rain over Gaza continuously. We don't know when our turn is, but we expect to get bombed any minute," Shouq Al Najjar, a 28-year-old development worker in Gaza, told CNBC.

Read the full report here.

The World Health Organization has lost contact with its health staff at the al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, which has been raided by Israeli military, the organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media.

"Reports of military incursion into Al-Shifa hospital are deeply concerning. We've lost touch again with health personnel at the hospital. We're extremely worried for their and their patients' safety," he said.

Israeli military entered the al-Shifa hospital in what it says is a targeted operation against alleged Hamas underground positions beneath the complex.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israeli Defense Forces have opened a daily humanitarian corridor for the southward evacuation of civilians from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, according to a social media update from Avichay Adraee, IDF spokesperson for Arab media.

The military will implement a "temporary tactical suspension" of activities between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time in the al-Salam and al-Nour neighborhoods in the Jabalia region in the north of the Gaza enclave.

"To the residents of the neighborhoods of Tal al-Hawa, al-Sabra, al-Zaytoun al-Gharbi, Daraj al-Tuffah, al-Shuja'iya, and Jabalia, we urge you to evacuate your residential areas immediately in order to preserve your safety, via Salah al-Din Road," the spokesperson said, according to a Google translation.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rebuked his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, who urged Israel to exercise "maximum restraint" in its operations affecting Palestinian civilians, stressing that "the world is watching."

Speaking at a press conference in the British Columbia province, Trudeau said, "All innocent life is equal in worth, Israeli and Palestinian. I urge the government of Israel to exercise maximum restraint. [Because] the world is watching, on TV, on social media. We're hearing the testimonies of doctors, family members, survivors, kids who've lost their parents. The world is witnessing this killing of women, children, of babies. This has to stop."

In a separate social media post, the Canadian leader said that French President Emmanuel Macron and he shared "deep concerns over the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the scale of suffering of Palestinian civilians, and the loss of civilian life. We also called for the immediate release of those being held hostage by Hamas."

Trudeau has previously condemned the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7 and the rise in antisemitic demonstrations since Israel's retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Likewise taking to social media, Netanyahu directed his message to Trudeau and stressed, "It is not Israel that is deliberately targeting civilians but Hamas that beheaded, burned and massacred civilians in the worst horrors perpetrated on Jews since the Holocaust."

He said, "While Israel is doing everything to keep civilians out of harm's way, Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm's way. Israel provides civilians in Gaza humanitarian corridors and safe zones, Hamas prevents them from leaving at gunpoint. It is Hamas not Israel that should be held accountable for committing a double war crime - targeting civilians while hiding behind civilians."

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Jordanian foreign ministry has issued a statement condemning the Israeli raid of the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, al-Shifa, as a "violation of international humanitarian law, especially the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War," according to a Google-translated social media post.

The ministry stressed it is also "holding Israel responsible for the safety of civilians and the medical staff working in the hospital."

Israeli military entered the al-Shifa hospital overnight in an operation it describes as both precise and targeted. It says it has intelligence of an underground Hamas tunnel network beneath the hospital's site and accuses the Palestinian militant group of weaponizing civilian sites as shields in the conflict.

— Ruxandra Iordache

A team of 15 international and national members of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, the MSF said Tuesday.

"They will aim to support medical and surgical capacity in the Strip, where the healthcare infrastructure has collapsed, and medics are utterly exhausted."

The health care system in the Gaza Strip has all but collapsed in the face of ongoing shelling and shortages of fuel and medical equipment. The U.N. earlier this week estimated that 20 out of the territory's 36 hospitals were no longer functional.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israel's foreign minister has deepened his criticism of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whom he accused of being unfit to lead the global coalition.

"Guterres does not deserve to be the head of the United Nations," Eli Cohen said Tuesday on U.N. premises in Geneva.

"Guterres does not promote any peace process in the region. Iran is a member in the U.N. and she is calling for the destruction of the state of Israel. A country that is calling for the destruction of another one, she cannot be a member of the U.N. And you can see how Guterres is sitting with them."

Iran has historically supported Hamas and praised, but denied responsibility for the Palestinian militant group's offensive of Oct. 7.

Cohen and Israel's representative to the U.N., Gilad Erdan, previously called for Guterres' resignation after the U.N. secretary-general delivered a late-October speech saying that the Hamas terror attacks did not happen "in a vacuum."

Guterres has repeatedly pleaded for a cease-fire in Israel-Hamas hostilities and for an end to the suffering of Palestinian civilians.

"I am deeply disturbed by the horrible situation and dramatic loss of life in several hospitals in Gaza. In the name of humanity, I call for an immediate humanitarian cease fire," he reiterated Tuesday on social media.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defense Forces have supplied an update of their ongoing operations in the largest hospital of the Gaza Strip.

"Prior to their entry, the IDF troops encountered explosive devices and terrorist cells, and an engagement began in which terrorists were killed," the IDF said on Telegram, following its overnight operation that included medical teams and Arab speakers "who have undergone specified training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment."

The military further reported locating a Hamas training encampment containing tunnel shafts, classrooms, intelligence materials, weapons, as well as a separate "terrorist cell that exited a building with an anti-tank missile launching post in the northern Gaza Strip."

CNBC could not confirm the information. It was not immediately clear if the latter findings were on the premise or in the vicinity of the al-Shifa hospital.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Palestine Red Crescent Society on Tuesday night said it carried out an evacuation of the second-largest hospital of the Gaza Strip, which it previously said was under the siege and bombardment of Israeli forces.

"It was a challenging and perilous day. Today, we managed to evacuate the patients, the wounded, their families, and the medical teams trapped in Al-Quds Hospital, compelled by the tragic situation that had befallen the hospital," the group said on social media.

"This comes after more than 10 days of siege, during which medical and humanitarian supplies were prevented from reaching the hospital," it added, noting the hospital had "become a threat to the lives of everyone inside," given ongoing shelling, depletion of water and power outages.

The wounded and patients were in the process of being transported for care at hospitals in the south of the Gaza enclave, which are likewise "already suffering from fuel shortages and a scarcity of medical supplies and medications," the PRCS added.

CNBC could not independently confirm developments on the ground. It was not immediately clear if the PRCS had completed a partial or full evacuation of the hospital.

The Israel Defense Forces say they do not target civilian sites and accuse Hamas of fostering its underground tunnel network beneath Palestinian hospitals.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israeli military early on Wednesday said it was carrying out a "precise and targeted operation" against Hamas militants in a "specified area" of the largest hospital of the Gaza Strip, Dar al-Shifa, according to a social media update.

The Israel Defense Forces said the incursion is "based on intelligence information and an operational necessity."

The medical facility has been unable to operate in a hospital capacity following the depletion of fuel and medical supplies. Human rights groups and local doctors have previously reported Israeli tanks blockading hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

"Instead of treating the ill, Hamas uses hospitals for terrorism. This sick exploitation of the Gazan people must be stopped," the IDF said in a separate post on the X social media platform, previously known as Twitter.

Israeli military maintains its operation in the Gaza enclave targets Hamas agents and military positions. It accuses Hamas of building an extensive underground network of tunnels for transport, shelter, weapons and explosive storage that stretches beneath vast swathes of the Gaza Strip, including the al-Shifa hospital.

The White House indicated similar intelligence on Tuesday.

"I can confirm to you that we have information that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad use some hospital in the Gaza Strip, including al-Shifa, and tunnels underneath them to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages," John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, told reporters. "Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad ... members operate a commanding control note from al-Shifa in Gaza City. They have stored weapons there. And they are prepared to respond to an Israeli military operation against that facility."

He added, "We do not support striking a hospital from the air, and we do not want to see a fire fight in the hospital."

— Ruxandra Iordache

Over 600 Americans, lawful permanent residents and their family members have left Gaza through Rafah crossing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said today.

According to the State Department's knowledge, almost 1,000 American citizens, lawful permanent residents and their families are still stuck in Gaza, Miller said.

The State Department hopes to facilitate their departure "over the coming days" should they wish to leave, Miller said.

— NBC News

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says its fuel storage facility in Gaza is empty and its relief operations will soon be halted.

The lack of fuel in Gaza means communications are expected to start collapsing on Thursday, UNRWA said, "as telecommunications companies run out of fuel to operate their data centres and major connection sites."

Israel has refused to allow fuel shipments into Gaza since Hamas' cross-border attack on Oct. 7. Israel says Hamas will divert any fuel shipments for military use.

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA, said that after weeks of warnings and rationing, the agency will soon be out of fuel.

"The depot is now empty," he said. "It is very simple. Without fuel, the humanitarian operation in Gaza is coming to an end. Many more people will suffer and will likely die."

UNRWA provides food, shelter and other services to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.

— Associated Press

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it evacuated "patients, the wounded, their families, and the medical teams" from Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City today.

"This comes after more than ten days of siege, during which medical and humanitarian supplies were prevented from reaching the hospital," the organization said on X. "As the hospital had become a threat to the lives of everyone inside due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment around the hospital and firing upon those inside, in addition to a complete power outage and the depletion of water and food for the patients, it became impossible to continue providing the necessary medical care under these conditions."

Patients were taken to hospitals in south Gaza to receive medical care, which the agency said "are already suffering from fuel shortages and a scarcity of medical supplies and medications."

— NBC News

IDF says it is carrying out an operation at Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital; March for Israel draws thousands to D.C.