April 20, 2024 - News on the Middle East conflicts

Our live coverage of Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza has moved here.

At least 14 people have been killed during the ongoing Israel Defense Forces operation at the Nur al-Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Palestinian authorities say they have been able to retrieve a number of bodies and injured people from the camp, as the IDF has partially withdrawn from the area.

Videos filmed by residents show a bulldozer destroying a building as IDF vehicles leave the camp after more than 24 hours of the raid. 

Other videos show ambulances entering the camp after the IDF withdraws. Residents tell CNN that Israeli forces have left the immediate area but are still present in the nearby city of Tulkarm.

Earlier on Saturday, the IDF said its forces killed 10 “terrorists” and arrested eight wanted suspects during the extensive operation, which started on Thursday.

The health ministry and Palestinian news agency Wafa, meanwhile, have said at least one child and one teen are among those killed, and that the IDF has arrested young people en masse and destroyed key infrastructure.

The operation appears to be one of the largest in the West Bank since October 7. 

CNN has reached out to the IDF for an operational update. 

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority president strongly condemned the US House of Representatives’ approval Saturday of a $26 billion aid package for Israel.

The aid will directly correlate to the increasing number of Palestinian casualties, said the spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, according to a statement published by the Palestinian official news agency WAFA.

Abu Rudeineh labeled the aid package a “dangerous escalation” and an act of aggression against the Palestinian people. He said the support gives Israel the green light to broaden its war across the region, and undermines the prospects for regional and global stability.

The aid package passed by the House still faces a vote in the US Senate before being approved.

Back in the US: Protesters have gathered near the Wilmington, Delaware, home of US President Joe Biden — who has backed the aid package — holding signs and chanting, calling for a ceasefire.

One chant that can be heard is “Biden, Biden you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.” They are also chanting “Biden is a war criminal,” and “Genocide Joe has got to go.”

The president is spending the weekend in Wilmington.

CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg contributed reporting to this post.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health condemned two separate incidents involving emergency medical crews operating in the West Bank on Saturday.

An ambulance driver was killed by Israeli settlers as he tried to rush injured Palestinians to safety, and another ambulance crew was detained and questioned by the Israel Defense Forces outside a West Bank hospital, according to the ministry and Palestine Red Crescent Society.

“The Ministry urgently calls on international health organizations, human rights institutions, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently act to curb the escalating practices of the occupation and settlers against treatment centers and medical crews, and to allow them to perform their humanitarian duty,” the ministry said.

“The targeting of medics, ambulances, treatment centers, medical staff, obstructing their movement, and preventing them from reaching the wounded, constitutes a blatant and clear violation of international humanitarian law and international norms and treaties”, the ministry added.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

Israel’s foreign ministry will summon ambassadors from various countries Sunday to express its displeasure with their support for this week’s Palestinian membership bid at the United Nations, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Saturday.

The diplomatic push involves countries that have voted in favor of Palestinian membership in the UN and have ambassadors stationed in Israel, including France, Ecuador, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Slovenia, China and Russia.

Algeria, Sierra Leone, Guyana and Mozambique — which also supported the proposal — do not have embassies in Israel.

An ambulance driver was killed by Israeli settlers as he tried to transport Palestinians who had been attacked by settlers in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and an aid organization.

The ministry identified the driver as Mohammed Awad Allah Mohammed Musa, 50, and said he worked with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

He was killed by settlers who opened fire on his ambulance, PRCS told CNN. 

Another crew detained: In a separate incident, the Israel Defense Forces detained an ambulance crew at the entrance of the Thabet Thabet hospital in Tulkarm, West Bank, the PRCS reported. 

In pictures shared by the organization, the ambulance crew is seen siting inside an IDF vehicle, surrounded by soldiers. PRCS says the crew was detained and interrogated while trying to carry out humanitarian work.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

Violence in the West Bank: Violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers — long a reality in the West Bank — has spiked since the October 7 attacks and during Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza.

The settlers, whose homes in the occupied territories are considered illegal by most of the international community, and those who support them have been subject to increasing sanctions by the United States and European Union.

Meanwhile, the IDF is currently carrying out one of its largest operations in the West Bank since the start of the war. The military said Saturday it has killed 10 “terrorists” in the ongoing raid at the Nur al-Shams refugee camp. It says eight IDF soldiers and one Border Force officer have been lightly or moderately injured in fighting.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa, by contrast, has said at least one person killed at the camp was a child, and that the operation has brought mass arrests of young people and destruction of infrastructure.

The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that has flared since October 7 continued on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces said about 10 launches were detected from southern Lebanon, and sirens were activated five times on Saturday morning.

On its Telegram channel, the IDF also said aircraft had struck a Hezbollah structure in the area of Aita al-Shaab, as well as a “terrorist who operated in Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Kfarkela (Kfar Kila) in southern Lebanon.” CNN cannot independently confirm the IDF claims about “terrorist infrastructure.”

Later Saturday, Hezbollah said it targeted two buildings used by the IDF in Shlomi, northern Israel, in response to strikes in Aita al-Shaab and Kfar Kila. 

The militant group said the Israeli strikes targeted “civilian homes.” The Lebanese National News Agency also reported a house was destroyed in the strike in Aita al-Shaab. It did not specify if the attack in Shlomi caused any casualties, according to a statement posted on Telegram. CNN cannot independently confirm the claim about homes. 

Hezbollah also said it targeted and destroyed “spy equipment” at the IDF’s Hanita site on Saturday.  

Following the exchanges of fire, Hezbollah announced the death of another one of its fighters.

Hezbollah also said Saturday it targeted a military site and a gathering of IDF soldiers in the Ruwaisat Al-Alam site, which the group says is located in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Shuba Hills.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the US House of Representatives for passing a package that includes aid to Israel. 

“The US Congress just overwhelmingly passed a much appreciated aid bill that demonstrates strong bipartisan support for Israel and defends Western civilization. Thank you friends, thank you America!” Netanyahu said on social media after the vote Saturday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz also thanked the House, saying he hopes the package will next pass in the US Senate, “soon with strong bipartisan support.”

Posting on X, Katz thanked Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

“The vote on the Israel aid package with an overwhelming bipartisan support proves the strong ties and strategic partnership between Israel and the U.S. and sends a strong message to our enemies,” he wrote.   

This post has been updated with remarks from the Israeli prime minister.

The US House of Representatives passed the Israel Security Supplemental with a vote of 366-58.

Here’s what the package includes:

It would also:

What’s happening: The House passed a foreign aid package Saturday after many Democrats joined GOP Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday to advance the measure to a floor vote. The $95 billion package includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region. The measures now go to the Senate.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa that the US decision to veto a Palestinian request for full United Nations membership was a “blatant aggression” against the Palestinian people and against what the international community wants.

“The United States has violated all international laws and has broken all the promises it talks about regarding the two-state solution and achieving peace in the region,” he said.

“The current American administration not only reneged on its promises and commitments, but also allowed Israel to weaken the Palestinian National Authority,” he continued.

Abbas told Wafa the positions of US President Joe Biden’s administration have created “unprecedented anger” among the Palestinian people and in the region, which “could push the region towards greater instability and enhance chaos and terrorism.”

On Thursday, the US vetoed a resolution proposing the Palestinian request. In Washington, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said the US has “been very clear, consistently, that premature actions in New York, even with the best intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people,” referring to the headquarters of the United Nations.

Palestinian attempts for recognition as a full member state began in 2011. It is currently a non-member observer state, a status that was granted in November 2012.

The US currently does not have an official diplomatic relationship with the Palestinian Authority.

The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday that security forces had killed 10 “terrorists” in an ongoing operation in Nur al-Shams, a refugee camp in Tulkarm, in the north of the occupied West Bank.

“IDF and Israel Border Police forces are continuing extensive counterterrorism activity in the area of Nur Shams. Thus far, the security forces eliminated ten terrorists during encounters, apprehended eight wanted suspects, exposed explosive devices and routes, and conducted searches in structures,” the IDF said in a statement. 
“Security forces located and destroyed a terror explosives laboratory, and confiscated numerous weapons, including pistols, M16 rifles, and additional military equipment.” 

The IDF said eight of its soldiers and one Border Force officer were injured.

Palestinian reports: Earlier Saturday, the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, said five people had been killed during Israel’s operation in Nur al-Shams. One of those killed was a child, according to Wafa, while the Palestinian health ministry said another was 16.

Wafa cited witnesses as saying the Israeli military was withholding the “bodies of the victims and preventing ambulance crews from reaching them.”

Bulldozers destroyed water and wastewater networks and caused electricity outages, according to Wafa, while “dozens of youths” were detained.

The operation appears to be one of the largest in the West Bank since October 7. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday he discussed the “gravity” of the situation in Gaza with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry and efforts to step up humanitarian aid to the enclave. 

“We especially emphasised the gravity of the situation at this point we have reached in Gaza and what needs to be done,” Fidan said in a joint news conference with Shoukry after a meeting in Istanbul.
“We discussed in detail with him what diplomatic steps can be taken, what can be done about humanitarian aid, what methods can be used for a two-state solution in the long-term.”

Commenting on tensions between Israel and Iran, Shoukry said they are concerned about the ongoing escalation in the region and have called on both parties to exercise restraint. 

“Further military conflict threatens countries around the world,” he said. 
“It threatens Egypt, it threatens Turkey, and our talks with the minister revolved around these developments in particular and the importance of joint efforts to contain the negative impacts.”

The death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to at least 34,049, following more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Saturday.

In the last 24 hours, 37 people have died and 68 have been injured following Israeli attacks, the ministry reported.

CNN cannot independently verify the ministry’s casualty figures.

Five people have been killed during an offensive by the Israeli military in Nur al-Shams, a refugee camp in Tulkarm, in the north of the occupied West Bank, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the operation began Thursday night “to counter terrorism in Nur al-Shams; so far the forces have eliminated a number of terrorists, arrested a number of wanted persons, searched buildings and uncovered explosives.”

The operation appears to be one of the largest in the West Bank since October 7. 

Video obtained by CNN showed gunfire continuing Saturday morning, as well as further Israeli reinforcements moving towards the camp.

Wafa reported that one of those killed was a child, while the Palestinian Health Ministry said another was 16.

Wafa cited witnesses as saying that the Israeli military was withholding the “bodies of the victims and preventing ambulance crews from reaching them.” CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on the operation, including this claim.

Wafa reported that the military, after launching the offensive on Thursday night, surrounded Nur al-Shams, “deploying military vehicles on all axes leading to the camp and closing the main street amid the flying of reconnaissance aircraft in the area.”

Bulldozers destroyed water and wastewater networks and caused electricity outages, according to Wafa, while “dozens of youths” were detained.

The IDF said that its soldiers “eliminated a number of terrorists, arrested a number of wanted people, uncovered explosives and axis and searched buildings.”

Video obtained by CNN showed a number of young men being bundled into Israeli military vehicles.

The aftermath of the Israeli strikes in Iran left the world on edge as concerns of a potentially dangerous escalation of a fast-widening Middle East conflict continue to rise.

Here’s the immediate response almost 24 hours after the strikes:

Here’s what else happened:

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made no mention of Israel’s Friday (local time) strike on Iran, while publicly lauding the unprecedented Iranian military operation last weekend targeting the “Israeli-occupied territories.”

Iran’s April 13 retaliatory strikes, part of an operation named “True Promise,” were a display of Iran’s military strength and a necessary act against what Raisi called the “illegal regime,” he said Friday. 

Raisi described the strikes as “punitive reprisal” by the Iranian Armed Forces, aimed at demonstrating Iran’s power and the resolve of its people. 

Remember: The April 1 strikes on Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus demolished a building and left several dead, including two high-ranking generals.

Israel and the United States have said that Iran’s lob of some 300 missiles had very little material impact and caused only one injury.

At least three people were wounded after five explosions rocked a military base belonging to an Iran-backed militia in Iraq, a local security official told CNN Saturday.

The blasts happened at a site belonging to the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), according to Muhannad al-Anazi, a member of the Security Committee in Babylon Governorate, south of the capital Baghdad.

There was no immediate indication as to the cause.

Israeli and US officials said neither was involved in the blast.

Read the full story here

Remember: The explosions near the Iraqi capital of Baghdad come one day after strikes against a military base in Isfahan, Iran. A US official told CNN that Israel was responsible for the strikes in Iran.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart on Friday, according to a readout from the Pentagon.

This comes one day after Israel carried out strikes in Iran. The readout makes no mention of the Israeli strikes, and the Biden administration has been tight-lipped following the actions. 

Austin and Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant discussed “regional stability,” as well as the ongoing war in Gaza, according to the Pentagon.

Austin also spoke with Gallant on Thursday before the strikes took place. The readout of the earlier call had slightly more information, saying the two discussed “Iran’s destabilizing actions in the Middle East.”

In a previous call, Austin had asked Gallant for Israel to notify the US before taking any action in retaliation for a massive Iranian barrage fired at Israel last weekend.

The scope of Israel’s military response to Iran’s first-ever direct attack on the country remains murky. Israeli officials have yet to publicly acknowledge responsibility for reported overnight explosions in parts of Iran on Friday. Tehran has dismissed these as attacks by “tiny drones” that were shot down by its air defense systems.

Iran may be downplaying what was likely to have been a significant but limited Israeli attack, but that seems to be secondary to the larger forces at play. What is plain to see is that both Iran and Israel are keen to wrap up the most dangerous escalation between the two regional powerhouses to date.

This month’s dramatic escalation, which kicked off with an apparent Israeli airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, followed by a largely foiled Iranian attack of over 300 airborne weapons on Israel, seems to have given way to a rapid climbdown. Shortly after the Friday morning attack in Iran, a regional intelligence source told CNN that Iran was not expected to respond further, and that the direct state-to-state strikes between the two enemy states were over.

The latest flare-up brought the stakes into sharp focus, but it also exposed the limits of a direct confrontation between Iran and Israel.

Remember: What happens between Iran and Israel rarely stays between Iran and Israel. The region is deeply intertwined. That heightens the risks of military action, but it also acts as guardrails against a potential conflagration. So when US officials said last weekend that Washington would not participate in an Israeli response to Iran’s attack on Israel, that seemed to immediately take the wind out of the sails of a potential escalation.

There does not appear to be any extensive damage at an air base purportedly targeted by an Israeli military strike, according to exclusive satellite images obtained by CNN from Umbra Space. 

The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images were taken around 10:18 a.m. local time. 

There does not appear to be any large craters in the ground and there are no apparent destroyed buildings. Additional visual satellite imagery will be needed to check for burn scars – which cannot be seen by SAR images – around the complex.

SAR images are not like normal satellite images. 

The SAR images are created by a satellite transmitting radar beams capable of passing through clouds, like the ones currently preventing satellites from imaging the area. Those radar beams bounce off objects on the ground, and echo back to the satellite.

Iranian news agency FARS said that an army radar at the Isfahan province military base was one of the possible targets, and that the only damage from the attack was broken windows on several office buildings.

The images also show that the Iranian F-14 Tomcats that have been stationed at the air base in the past are not there at the moment. Additional archival satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows that those F-14 Tomcats have not been there for some time.

Violence and uncertainty has gripped the Middle East since Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel, and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza.

The war has threatened on several occasions to spill over into an all-out regional conflict, and those concerns have intensified in recent weeks, as Israel and Iran traded missile strikes.

Here’s a look at where and how violence has spread.

The European Union imposed sanctions on “extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem,” the European Council announced on Friday, listing four people and two entities.

According to the statement, the entities Lehava, a “radical right-wing Jewish supremacist group,” and Hilltop Youth, a “radical youth group consisting of members known for violent acts against Palestinians and their villages in the West Bank,” were added to the EU sanctions regime alongside two leading figures of Hilltop Youth, Meir Ettinger and Elisha Yered.

Neria Ben Pazi, who the EU’s governing body said has been “accused of repeatedly attacking Palestinians,” and Yinon Levi, who the council said has “taken part in multiple violent acts against neighbouring villages,” were also added to the listing.

The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said in a post on X that “the EU has decided to sanction extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem for serious human rights abuses against Palestinians. We strongly condemn extremist settler violence: perpetrators must be held to account.”

Belgium’s Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said that she “welcomes” the sanctions, adding that the “recent escalation of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop; these settlers must be held accountable.”

Yered responded later Friday, saying he was “honored to be included in this respected list” and that “we shall continue holding onto the land of our forefathers — until the victory.”

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two organizations on Friday for fundraising on behalf of two violent Israeli extremists in the West Bank.

The two groups – Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich – established crowdfunding campaigns to raise thousands of dollars for Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai respectively. Both of those men were sanctioned by the US in February under a new executive order targeting those perpetrating violence in the West Bank. 

At the same time, the State Department on Friday sanctioned Ben-Zion Gopstein, “the founder and leader of Lehava, an organization whose members have engaged in violence, including assaults on Palestinian civilians,” the Treasury Department said in a statement Friday.

The executive order, issued by President Joe Biden in early February, came amid increased violence in the occupied West Bank in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack. That violence has only continued in subsequent months.

The order angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who complained to the administration, calling it “inappropriate” and “highly problematic,” according to Axios.

Gopstein responded later on Friday, saying: “We overcame Pharaoh; we shall overcome Biden too,” which is his rephrasing of the commonly used expression said during Israel at Passover: “We overcame Pharaoh; we shall overcome this.”