October 13, 2023 - Israel-Hamas war news

Israel is denying claims it used white phosphorus munitions after the international advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israeli forces of using them during military operations in Gaza and Lebanon this week.

According to a HRW report published Wednesday, the rights group said it verified one video taken on October 10 in Lebanon and another video in Gaza on October 11 that it claims shows "multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border."

White phosphorus is intended to provide illumination or to create a smokescreen in battle, but it is known to burn flesh down to the bone, according to earlier CNN reporting.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza on Friday reported the evacuation of Durra children's hospital in eastern Gaza after they said it was targeted by "white phosphorus bombs," according to Dr. Ashraf Alquedra, ministry spokesperson. 

Asked if Israeli forces had used white phosphorus this week in Gaza and Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces strongly denied the claims. In a live interview earlier on Friday, IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN “categorically, no," it had not.

HRW said it interviewed two individuals from the al-Mina area in Gaza City, who described seeing strikes “consistent with the use of white phosphorus" and "both described ongoing airstrikes before seeing explosions in the sky followed by what they described as white lines going earthward,” they said.

The rights group said it reviewed the video and confirmed that it was taken in the port of Gaza City and “identified that the munitions used in the strike were airburst 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles. Other videos posted to social media and verified by Human Rights Watch show the same location," the group said. "Dense white smoke and a garlic smell are characteristics of white phosphorus,” the statement said. 

The rights group also reviewed two videos on October 10 that occurred near the Israel-Lebanon border. “Each show 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles being used, apparently as smokescreens, marking, or signaling,” the release explained. 

CNN has reached out for comment to authorities in Lebanon.

Is white phosphorus illegal? Under an international protocol ratified by Israel in 1995, the use of such incendiary weapons is allowed when "not specifically designed to cause burn injury to persons," CNN previously reported.

There is no prohibition, per se, against white phosphorus in conflict. But the timing and location of its use are restricted.

For example, it is illegal under the protocol to use white phosphorus against any personnel, civilian or military. It can be directed only against military targets. International law says incendiary weapons cannot be used where civilians are concentrated.

Israel's history with white phosphorus: Israel previously faced widespread criticism for firing white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas during a Gaza offensive that began in late 2008. HRW said in a 2009 report that Israel's white phosphorus munitions had killed and injured civilians and damaged civilian structures, including including a school, a market, a humanitarian aid warehouse, and a hospital. HRW claimed that Israel's use of the weapons in crowded neighborhoods "violated international humanitarian law (the laws of war), which requires taking all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm and prohibits indiscriminate attacks."

In response, the nation pledged to limit the use of white phosphorus and make greater efforts to protect civilians during conflicts. Still, the government said that it had used white phosphorus lawfully.

Ilan Kedar was in New York last Saturday, on a weekend trip with his mother, when he heard the news of the Hamas surprise attack on Israel.

His family was still “relatively safe,” he said, but only “as safe as you can possibly feel when you have sirens above you all the time.” 

Kedar was born in Jerusalem and moved to the United States with his family when he was a baby — his mother is American and his father is Israeli. He lived in Chicago through high school before returning to Israel to serve with the Israeli Defense Forces for five years and has been on reserves duty since he was released by the IDF in 2014.

Usually, he said, calls to return to Israel for reserve duty came via an automated phone call, but this time was different.

“It was literally just through WhatsApp — a message to all the reservists to come in, meet at the emergency warehouses,” he said.

By then, Kedar had already started looking for flights, preparing to join the 360,000 other reservists who have answered their country’s call to arms as unspeakable violence continues to escalate in Israel and Gaza. Of course, he said, people worried about his safety, but everyone was still supportive of his decision to serve.

Kedar will leave Saturday evening to join the war.

After nearly a week of deadly airstrikes on Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Friday: "It's only the beginning."

And ‏Izzat al-Risheq, a senior Hamas official, said the militant group "will not surrender our legitimate fight for freedom and self-determination."

The situation in Gaza, according to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, "has reached a dangerous new low" while Israeli forces mass near the enclave border ahead of a possible ground assault.

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Daystar Church in Cullman, Alabama, has raised tens of thousands of dollars from local businesses and neighbors to help bring home Americans stuck in Israel, according to its senior pastor. 

Lawson told CNN the church paid nearly $60,000 out of its general fund to help 47 stranded Americans, who will be returning to the United States in groups. Donations will go toward reimbursing the church for those immediate costs.

The first of the assisted groups consists of multiple Alabama church members, including one from Daystar. Lawson said the group is expected to arrive in Atlanta on Saturday.  

The group landed in Israel last Saturday “as the first rockets came in from Gaza,” Lawson said. They were in the country on an all-inclusive religious tour to visit holy sites, but when US airlines stopped flights in and out of Israel, the group was stuck. Many of them do not have the financial means to arrange alternate travel home, Lawson added.

“Having watched videos of atrocities committed by Hamas, we’re so grateful that no one in our group was attacked or injured in any way,” Lawson told CNN.

The pastor credits Alabama state Sen. Garlan Gudger with helping to raise money and US Sen. Tommy Tuberville with helping expedite visas to Jordan, to help the group make their way back home to the US.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters that he expects the first evacuation flight to bring Floridians home from Israel, in accordance with a newly signed executive order, will arrive in the state on Sunday.

The first flight will depart tomorrow and will land in Florida on Sunday, the governor's press secretary Jeremy Redfern confirmed to CNN. 

The first charter flight evacuating Americans from Israel landed in Athens on Friday. The State Department has said more flights will depart over the coming days.

More than 20,000 United States citizens have reached out to the State Department about the Israel-Hamas War since last Saturday, but not all have actively sought help getting out of Israel.

A State Department spokesperson would not share exactly how many US citizens wanted to leave Israel, "given this is an unfolding situation."

The spokesperson told CNN the State Department has “sent messages to every U.S. citizen who contacted us to inform them that we will provide detailed information to any U.S. citizen who indicates interest in departure assistance.”

An aviation source shared with CNN a schedule with nearly three dozen flights over the next week. Most of the flights are between Tel Aviv and Athens, but other flights go between Tel Aviv and Sofia, Bulgaria.

Delta, American and United Airlines all announced Friday that they would use larger aircraft for chartered flights or that they were adding flights to and from Athens. The airlines also have said they're in close contact with the US State Department.

Here's what each airline is doing:

The first charter flight carrying Americans arrived in Athens on Friday.

National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said there would be more flights arranged in the coming days.

“The State Department will continue to organize these charter flights for as long as there is a demand from US citizens for departure assistance,” he said.

David Valentine said he is full of pride in his son who was called back to the Israel Defense Forces ranks Saturday, just hours after Hamas militants attacked. 

But, he is also completely terrified.

Fletcher Valentine, 32, was born in Northbrook, Illinois, a suburb roughly 45 minutes north of the Chicago. He joined the IDF after gaining Israeli citizenship while pursuing a master's degree in diplomacy and counterterrorism in his late 20s, David Valentine, who still lives in the US, told CNN. Fletcher Valentine spent three years in active duty, joining a paratrooper unit. 

After a year-and-a-half break from the military, Fletcher Valentine again joined the ranks with thousands of other reservists called back to fight for Israel. 

Fletcher Valentine is stationed near the Israeli-Lebanese border, living in an evacuated kibbutz, his father said. Valentine is staying in a little girl's bedroom. A photo his father sent to CNN captures the paradoxes of war: Valentine's rifle lay on the floor, propped up by his shoe, the barrel stretching across a box of abandoned Legos. 

David Valentine said the first notification that his son was being called up came early Saturday morning, shortly after the attack started.

"The first notice was basically get ready, and within 20 minutes it was, 'You’ve been activated,'" David Valentine said.

He said he is afraid for his son's safety, but also for the anguish war inflicts on soldiers. 

“I worry about the toll it would take if he had to actually start shooting people and killing people," he added.

They speak daily by either text or voice memo on WhatsApp. 

"His dream was always to be there when they make peace in the Middle East," Valentine said of his son. "That was a big reason why he went to study there for his master’s degree." 

A group of BBC journalists covering Israel’s war with Hamas were held at gunpoint and assaulted by Israeli police in Tel Aviv Thursday night, according to the network.

The disturbing incident came as the team of three journalists drove to their hotel in a vehicle "clearly marked as media," the British news network said. 

The BBC said that the team was “dragged from their vehicle,” searched, and pushed up against a wall during the stop. One of its journalists said that when he tried to film the incident, an officer threw his phone to the ground.

 An Israeli police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The incident came as Israel faces questions after firing artillery into southern Lebanon on Friday, killing Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injuring six other journalists.

In that instance, the journalists were wearing jackets identifying themselves as members of the press. The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged firing artillery into Lebanon on Friday but did not respond to additional questions specifically related to the victims.

The first charter flight from Israel organized by the US State Department arrived in Athens Friday afternoon, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said.

“A big thank you to everyone involved in making this possible. Our work continues,” he added.

Delta, American and United Airlines all announced larger aircraft or that they were adding flights to and from Athens. The airlines also have said they're in close contact with the US State Department.

Here's what each airline is doing:

More on the US effort to get citizens out of Israel: Beyond air transportation, the US is also looking for ways to “expand capacity” via transportation by sea.

“We began offering departure assistance to U.S. citizens who have completed our crisis intake form beginning on Friday, October 13, but it will take some time to schedule everyone seeking to depart,” the US Embassy in Israel said in a security alert on Friday.

It's unclear so far, what specific assets will be used to transport citizens by sea, and Americans who take advantage of the US government transportation “will be asked to sign an agreement to repay the U.S. government prior to departure,” the alert said.

The Biden administration said once the travelers get from Israel to Europe – on Israeli, Turkish and other regional airlines – they’ll be ferried home by US-based and other carriers.

Worried about safety, United, American and Delta airlines all ceased operations to and from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel’s lone international airport, earlier this week.

Some US citizens have been successful departing Israel into Jordan through the border crossings, including Allenby Bridge, the alert said.

As for citizens in Gaza, US officials are working on "potential options for departure," according to the alert, but further details were not available.