Israel-Hamas war updates and latest news on Gaza conflict

The United Nations humanitarian office said Friday that it was in advanced talks with representatives from Israel and Hamas to enable an aid operation to Gaza soon, according to Reuters reports.

“We are in deep and advanced negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that an aid operation into Gaza starts as quickly as possible and with the right conditions,” Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said.

“We are encouraged by reports that the different sides are nearing an agreement on the modalities, and that a first delivery is due to start in the next day or so.”

— Karen Gilchrist

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg called for ceasefire amid strike action in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

“Today we strike in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected,” she said in a social media post on Friday.

A frequent demonstrator for climate change and social causes, Thunberg was arrested in London earlier this week for disrupting a major energy conference alongside hundreds of other protesters. She has since been released on bail, Reuters reports.

— Ruxandra Iordache

A long-anticipated Israeli ground incursion into the embattled Gaza Strip has yet to materialize, a week since the Israel Defense Forces instructed civilians in Gaza City to evacuate southward — but the offensive could take place imminently, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signaled on Thursday.

“Be ready, the order will come,” he told infantry troops rallied at the Gaza border, according to NBC News. “And those who now see Gaza from afar will see it from the inside. I promise you. Good luck.”

Earlier in the week, the IDF’s Lt Colonel Richard Hecht had told reporters that the next stages of Israel’s war against Hamas could be “something different” from a ground campaign, without disclosing further details.

Yoav on Thursday added that Israel’s military efforts will aim for the “total annihilation of Hamas organization — terror infrastructures, everything that has to do with terrorists and whoever sent them.”

Israel has repeatedly stated it only target is to remove the military abilities of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, following the Palestinian militant group’s attacks of Oct. 7. Human rights groups have drawn alarm bells over the exacerbating humanitarian crisis in the embattled Gaza enclave, which has been placed under “complete siege” by Israel and deprived of the country’s fuel, water, electricity and food resources.

Top U.S. and European officials and heads of state have visited Israel to show solidarity, entreat no further escalations and broker humanitarian corridors for the safe passage of civilians stranded in Gaza.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Palestine’s health ministry on Friday said that 22 people were killed and more than 70 were injured after Israeli airstrikes on six homes in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.

— Sam Meredith

Over 1,000 Chinese nationals have left Israel amid the country’s conflict with Palestinian militant group Hamas, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press briefing, according to Reuters.

The figures are preliminary and reunite both nationals who have returned to China or gone to a third country.

China has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and an end to the violence in Israel and the embattled Gaza Strip enclave, without explicitly condemning Hamas.

Governments around the world have organized special repatriation flights and transport to remove their citizens from Israel, following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have also encouraged their citizens to leave Israeli neighbor Lebanon, in the wake of rising tensions.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Dr. Zaher Sahloul, a Chicago-based pulmonary and critical care specialist and president of non-governmental organization MedGlobal, warned that dwindling supplies of essential goods in Gaza will likely have disastrous consequences over the coming days.

MedGlobal is a nonprofit that sends teams of physicians to countries in need. It is currently working on the ground in Gaza to provide humanitarian assistance during the Israel-Hamas war.

“The hospital explosion and the catastrophic death toll has significantly increased the fear, anxiety and trauma among civilians and medical workers alike,” Sahloul told CNBC, referring to a blast at the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday.

“The added stress, combined with dwindling and in many cases completely depleted supplies of water, fuel and medicine are pushing hospitals to the utter brink,” he added. “Humanitarian relief and supplies must come or the death toll at hospitals and displaced communities will climb drastically in the coming days.”

Israel responded to an Oct. 7 terrorist attack from Palestinian militant group Hamas by imposing a “complete siege” on Gaza. This means that supplies of drinking water, food, fuel and medicine are either dwindling or gone, while humanitarian aid from Egypt has yet to materialize.

— Sam Meredith

The Palestinian health ministry on Friday said that 13 people had been killed, including five children, after an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Reuters reported.

CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.

The reported attack comes as Israeli forces are expected to launch a ground assault in Gaza and continue with an aerial bombardment campaign.

— Sam Meredith

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday, as part of the British leader’s broader Middle East tour to diplomatically rein in escalations of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“We agreed on coordinated action to prevent further escalation in the region, provide vital humanitarian aid in Gaza and support stability, both now and in the long-term,” Sunak said Thursday on social media.

“As an international community, we must not let Hamas’ terror attack become a catalyst for a terrible humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We will work together to ensure regional stability and prevent a dangerous escalation,” he added in a separate update on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Riyadh has historically been a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Palestinian people, refusing official diplomatic relations with Israel on that count. Under U.S. auspices, ties between the two countries had been thawing in recent months, but the Oct. 7 terrorist attack of Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel’s retaliatory strikes against the Gaza Strip have cast shadow over the future of the relationship.

Earlier on Thursday, Sunak visited Israel, where he met with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Britain expressed solidarity with Israel in the latter’s “darkest hour.”

Sunak is on Friday expected to travel to Egypt, with whose leadership he has been discussing support for a humanitarian aid corridor to the Gaza Strip.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defense Forces attacked over 100 operational targets belonging to Palestinian militant group Hamas in an overnight offensive, the military said in an Friday morning update on Telegram.

The IDF said the hostilities also killed a Hamas naval operative involved in the terror attacks of Oct. 7, Amjad Majed Muhammad Abu ‘Odeh.

CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.

The IDF has been carrying out an intense air strike campaign against the besieged Gaza Strip enclosure, as it seeks to remove the military capabilities of Hamas.

The Israeli military has simultaneously been exchanging fire with Hezbollah, most recently reporting retaliatory strikes against the Lebanese militant group’s infrastructure and observation posts in response to anti-tank missiles shot from Lebanon over the course of Thursday.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israel’s Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces have asked residents to leave Kiryat Shmona, a city near the northern border with Lebanon, according to a post from the ministry on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The ministry said residents would be moved to state-subsidized guesthouses and that the IDF notified the mayor.

The border town has been battered by rockets as tensions flare with Iran-backed fighters in Lebanon and Syria.

— Christine Wang

In a rare prime-time Oval Office address, President Joe Biden urged Israel “not be blinded by rage.”

“When I was in Israel yesterday, I said that when America experienced the hell of 9/11, we felt enraged as well,” Biden said. “While we sought and got justice, we made mistakes. So, I cautioned the government of Israel not to be blinded by rage.”

Biden also said that “Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”

“The U.S. remains committed to the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and to self-determination,” President Biden says. “The actions of Hamas terrorists don’t take that right away … We can’t ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians who only want to live in peace.”

President Joe Biden vowed to hold the Iranian regime to account for supporting both Russia, Hamas and other malign actors as the U.S. works to support Israel and Ukraine on two different war fronts.

“Iran is supporting Russia, Ukraine and supporting Hamas and other terrorist groups in the region and will continue to hold them accountable,” Biden said.

The Biden administration has previously warned Iran to not further escalate the ongoing war in the Middle East.

— Amanda Macias