This was CNBC's live blog tracking developments on the Israel-Hamas war. See the latest updates here.
Israel said its forces were conducting a "precise" operation against Hamas in a specific area of the al-Shifa medical complex "with the intent that no harm is caused to the civilians being used by Hamas as human shields."
The Israel Defense Forces said the incursion is "based on intelligence information and an operational necessity." The military further reported locating a Hamas training encampment containing tunnel shafts, classrooms, intelligence materials and weapons.
The head of the World Health Organization condemned the incursion as "totally unacceptable," noting that the situation at the al-Shifa hospital has grown increasingly dire and that a cease-fire is necessary to preserve civilian lives.
Meanwhile, 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.
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