Latest news on Gaza conflict

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

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

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