April 11, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

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

A specialized UN committee failed to reach a consensus Thursday on Palestinian membership in the United Nations, according to the president of the UN Security Council.

Two-thirds of the committee members were in favor of moving on with membership, with many countries arguing that “Palestine fulfills all the criteria that are required” to be granted full state member status, Malta’s Ambassador and Security Council President Vanessa Frazier said. 

She added that no one explicitly objected to the membership qualifications.

Frazier also said she would circulate a draft report on the deliberations as soon as Friday. If the committee doesn’t agree on the report, it could hold another meeting to iron out any differences.

Asked whether the process of deliberating Palestinian membership in the committee is now over, Frazier said, “Unless the next step of agreeing (to) the report of the committee warrants another meeting to iron out the differences, it’s not foreseen that there would be any further committee action.”

But she noted that any UN Security Council member can still table a resolution to vote on Palestinian membership at any time, regardless of the committee’s report.

Concerns about a possible Iranian attack against Israel has prompted many diplomatic conversations around the globe.

Here are some developments on diplomacy around the threat of an attack:

Meanwhile, here’s some other updates:

American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) has resumed Gaza operations “after a temporary pause” following an airstrike that killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers on April 1.

“As you know, the decision to temporarily pause our operations was not an easy one. We followed the direction of our staff in Gaza, who’ve faced death, loss, and destruction since the start of the war,” Sean Carroll, the president and CEO of Anera, said in a statement on Thursday.
“After the killing of Anera staff member Mousa Shawwa, followed by the attack that killed seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen, we made the difficult but necessary decision to pause aid operations on April 2,” Carroll added in the statement.

Carroll said Israeli authorities informed him during a meeting Thursday that “certain measures would be taken to protect humanitarian aid workers in Gaza – including Anera’s staff.”

“With the full support of our Gaza team, we have determined that the circumstances have changed sufficiently to resume our vital humanitarian work in Gaza,” Carroll said. 

Anera on Thursday resumed “full operations in Gaza to deliver meals, food parcels, hygiene kits, tents, medical treatments, and more to families in dire need,” according to the statement.

The imperative for Tehran to “punish” Israel for the deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last week might have been avoided if the attack had been condemned at the United Nations, Iran’s Mission to the UN said Thursday.

“Had the UN Security Council condemned the Zionist regime’s reprehensible act of aggression on our diplomatic premises in Damascus and subsequently brought to justice its perpetrators, the imperative for Iran to punish this rogue regime might have been obviated,” the mission said on X.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack on April 1, according to a statement from the UN spokesperson Stephan Dujarric. A Security Council discussion was held on April 2 to discuss the attack, but differences among members prevented any formal action or condemnation from taking place.

The United States is on high alert and actively preparing for a “significant” attack by Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region in response to the strike in Damascus that killed top Iranian commanders.

Britain’s foreign secretary warned his Iranian counterpart on Thursday that Tehran “must not draw” the Middle East into a wider conflict following a series of escalating threats made by Iran toward Israel.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that the United Kingdom was “deeply concerned about the potential for miscalculation leading to further violence. Iran should instead work to de-escalate and prevent further attacks,” according to a post on X.

Iran’s state-aligned Tasnim news agency on Thursday reported that Amir-Abdollahian had told Cameron that the silence from the UK and the United States following Israel’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last week only served to encourage Israel to continue waging war in Gaza and expand its conflict in the region.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant today to “reaffirm the US ironclad commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies,” according to a Pentagon spokesperson.

The call comes a day after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel “must be punished and it will be” following a strike on an Iranian embassy compound in Syria that killed seven Iranian officials.

Israel “will not tolerate an Iranian attack on its territory,” the statement read, adding that the two defense leaders also discussed detailed preparations “for an Iranian attack against the State of Israel.”

Gallant said an Iranian attack on Israel could lead to a regional escalation.

It is the second discussion held between Gallant and Austin over the past week, according to the statement. Gallant expressed his appreciation for Austin’s personal commitment to the security of the State of Israel and for the deepening cooperation between the defense establishments of both countries, as well as between the Israel Defense Forces and US CENTCOM.

The US State Department has restricted the travel of US government personnel in Israel in the wake of public threats against Israel by Iran.

“Out of an abundance of caution, U.S. government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv (including Herzliya, Netanya, and Even Yehuda), Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva areas until further notice,” a security alert posted by the US Embassy Thursday said. “U.S. government personnel are authorized to transit between these three areas for personal travel.”
“The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events,” the alert noted.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said he would not “speak to the specific assessments that led to us to restrict our employees and family members’ personal travel, but clearly we are monitoring the threat environment in the Middle East and specifically in Israel.”

“We have seen Iran making public threats against Israel in the past few days,” Miller said. “Israel is in a very tough neighborhood and we have been monitoring the security situation. You saw us slightly adjust for travel warnings at the beginning of this conflict and we conduct ongoing assessments all the time about the situation on the ground.”

US officials are on high alert for a potential retaliatory strike by Iran or its proxies against Israel.

A member of Hamas’ political bureau said a prisoner-hostage exchange is being discussed as part of larger ceasefire negotiations.

“Part of negotiations is to reach a ceasefire agreement to have enough time and safety to collect final and more precise data” on the hostages held in Gaza Basem Naim said in a statement on Thursday.
“Because they (hostages) are in different palaces, (being held) by different groups, some of them are under the rubble killed with our own people, and we negotiate to get heavy equipment for this purpose,” he added.

Naim’s statement was in response to questions from media outlets about whether Hamas has been rejecting the latest proposal, which was made in Cairo over the weekend, because it can not release 40 hostages in the first phase of a three-stage ceasefire deal.

According to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions, Hamas indicated it is currently unable to identify and track down those 40 Israeli hostages, raising fears that more hostages may be dead than are publicly known. 

CNN’s record of the conditions of the hostages also suggests there are fewer than 40 living hostages who meet the proposed criteria.

Iris Weinstein Haggai received confirmation that her father, Gadi, and her mother, Judi, were killed by Hamas during the attacks on October 7. She and her family then had an unthinkable decision to make. Could they sit shiva, as is customary for Jews after the passing of a loved one?

Judi and Gadi’s bodies were still being held by Hamas.

There was ultimately a small family gathering in Toronto, where some members of the Weinstein Haggai clan grew up and still live. Weinstein Haggai and her three siblings did not participate but watched the recordings of the Zoom gatherings afterward. 

“I felt it was very final, and my heart’s — I couldn’t bear that yet. Because I don’t have bodies to bury,” Weinstein Haggai, 38, told CNN. “To hear people talk about them, and kind of like a shiva, kind of like a ceremony — to me, it was hard. And I couldn’t really join that.”

Trying to grieve and honor the life of a deceased family member, before getting the chance to bury their bodies, is the wrenching position that numerous families of the hostages abducted by Hamas now find themselves in. Three American hostages have been confirmed dead so far: Judi Weinstein Haggai, Gadi Haggai and Itay Chen, all dual Israel-American citizens. Their families say there can be no peace of mind until the bodies are returned.

“To me, there’s no closure. I need to make sure that they have a respectful burial; they’re laid to rest,” Weinstein Haggai said. “I can’t rest. I’m not rested.”

A White House official told CNN that the recovery of the bodies remains an active and urgent part of the ongoing hostage release negotiations.

Read the full story of what the American families are saying.

 The top US general for the Middle East is currently in Israel as the region braces for a possible Iranian retaliation to Israel’s strike in Damascus, Syria.

US Central Command Gen. Erik Kurilla is “traveling throughout the region” but has moved up his meetings with Israeli military leaders because of threats from Iran, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said Thursday.

Remember: On April 1, Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Syria, risking a dangerous escalation in the Middle East.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the foreign ministers of Turkey, China and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday night and Thursday morning to tell them that countries should be urging Iran not to escalate the conflict in the Middle East after threats made by Tehran against Israel, according to a State Department spokesperson.

What Blinken told his counterparts: “Escalation is not in anyone’s interest and that countries should urge Iran not to escalate,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a news briefing. The US has also “engaged with European allies and partners over the past few days” to deliver a similar message on Iran, he added.

What Blinken told Israel: He spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to reiterate US support for Israel against these threats, and also emphasize “the importance of Israel meeting the commitments that Prime Minister Netanyahu made to President Biden last week to improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, and to put in place enhanced deconfliction and coordination measures,” Miller said.

A top United Nations humanitarian official said it is clear Israel is working to ramp up humanitarian aid into Gaza, but that Israel has not yet implemented all of the measures it has announced.

“We’ve been asking for this for months,” said Jamie McGoldrick, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Jerusalem. “We’ve been calling out the fact, there’s real humanitarian crisis in the North, where famine is imminent… it’s only now that we start to see the announcements, but not see the actual implementation as of yet.”

Israel’s plan for more aid: The Israeli Defense Forces announced Thursday they would be building a land crossing between Israel and northern Gaza after, on Wednesday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised his country would “flood Gaza with aid” deliveries. 

COGAT, the Israeli agency that coordinates the inspection and delivery of humanitarian assistance for Gaza, said the daily number of trucks entering Gaza has doubled from last week’s numbers, but UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian affairs which tracks the flow of aid into Gaza, has not reported a similar increase.

The UN’s humanitarian coordinator has welcomed the new announcements by the Israeli government but says more needs to be done to facilitate operations inside Gaza. 

“We get lots of trucks coming from Israel, we can’t automatically put those trucks straight into Gaza, they have to be taken off or they have to be segregated from water, from food, from medical items, they then get loaded onto trucks, and then they then go out into Gaza,” McGoldrick explained. “Getting 400 trucks from Kerem Shalom doesn’t mean 400 trucks go into Gaza.”

McGoldrick said the logistical complications are numerous, and take time to resolve. He also said Israel’s restrictions on movement inside the strip complicate matters.

The top US humanitarian official said Wednesday it is “credible” to assess that famine is already occurring in parts of Gaza as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.

Although US officials have been sounding the alarm about the imminent risk of famine in the war-torn strip, Samantha Power, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development, is the first official to publicly agree with an assessment that famine is already taking place. Power noted that the rate of malnutrition in northern Gaza prior to October 7 “was almost zero” and is now “one in three kids.”

The comments come as UNICEF says one of its vehicles was hit by “live ammunition” while waiting to enter northern Gaza from the south of the territory on Wednesday. In a statement released on X Thursday, UNICEF says the “incident has been raised with relevant Israeli authorities.”

Here’s what else to know today:

Israel aid plan: Israel plans to “flood Gaza with aid,” its Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said. US pressure on Israel played a role in the country’s decision to ramp up the entry of humanitarian aid he told reporters, saying Israel’s defense establishment “takes the United States very seriously.”

Gaza death toll: At least 33,545 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 7 according to The Gaza Ministry of Health. The ministry added that 76,094 people have been injured in this timeframe. CNN cannot independently verify these numbers.

Hamas leader’s grandchildren killed: Four grandchildren of Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip, according to a statement by Hamas. Initial reports suggested three of his grandchildren were killed along with three of his sons on Wednesday. Hamas confirmed the names of Haniyeh’s grandchildren as Mona, Amal, Khalid and Razan.

New military crossing: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are constructing a new land crossing from Israel to northern Gaza, according to a statement released Thursday. The IDF says it will “enable more aid to flow directly to civilians in the areas that have been challenging for trucks to access.״ 

Regional tensions: Israel is preparing for “scenarios” in locations other than Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned during a visit to an Israeli airbase on Thursday. Tensions have been mounting throughout the Middle East following warnings from US officials that Iran could carry out an imminent attack on US or Israeli assets in the region.

Aid workers repatriated: The families of the three British World Central Kitchen workers who were killed in an Israeli military strike last week have released statements about their loved ones, following the repatriation of their bodies to the United Kingdom. Read what they said here.

Israel polling: Only a minority of Israelis think the government will complete its four-year term, an Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) poll released Thursday suggests, while a majority think that Hamas has succeeded in refocusing international attention on the Palestinian issue. Find out more about the poll here.

Only a minority of Israelis think the government will complete its four-year term, an Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) poll released Thursday suggests, while a majority think that Hamas has succeeded in refocusing international attention on the Palestinian issue.

According to the survey, only about one-third of respondents think that the Israeli government will survive to the end of its four-year term. IDI found no significant difference between populations they described as Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis, with 36% of the former group and 38% of the latter group saying the government would last its term. 

Jewish Israelis identified as being politically on the Right – like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government – are more likely than those on the left or in the center to expect the government to complete its full term, but even on the right, it’s only 44%. A quarter of Jewish Israelis (24%) in the political Center think the government will last, while one in five (19%) on the left does, the polling suggests.

The Netanyahu government took office at the end of 2022. It is very rare for an Israeli government to last its entire term without early elections being called. 

The Israel Democracy Institute interviewed 755 men and women by telephone and internet between March 31 and April 3, 2024. Some 606 interviews were in Hebrew and 149 in Arabic. The margin of error on the full sample was 3.65 points.

Israel has slammed the new Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Simon Harris for failing to mention the hostages being held by Hamas during his first speech after being elected leader. 

Harris notably used his first speech to condemn Israel’s war in Gaza, highlighting how “men, women, and children are being slaughtered” there. He also told lawmakers that the Irish government has “not been silent on the unforgivable terrorist actions of Hamas” on October 7. 

In a blistering statement published Thursday, Israel’s foreign ministry criticized the speech, saying there are people “in Ireland who persist on being on the wrong side of history.”

“Simon Harris, the new Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, chose to refer to the war in Gaza in his inaugural address but “forgot” to mention the 133 Israeli hostages who have been rotting in Hamas tunnels for the past six months,” the foreign ministry added. 

The foreign ministry also criticized Ireland’s recent move to intervene in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case taken by South Africa and its intention to soon recognize the statehood of Palestine. From the outset of the war, Ireland has been one of the strongest critics of Israel’s actions in Gaza, with politicians from across the political divide speaking out on the issue. 

In a speech days before his appointment, Harris directly addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying: “Prime Minister Netanyahu,  the Irish people could not be clearer. We are repulsed by your actions.”

The families of the three British World Central Kitchen workers who were killed in an Israeli military strike last week released statements about their loved ones, following the repatriation of their bodies to the United Kingdom. 

The family of James Kirby, 47 — a military veteran who had previously served in the British armed forces in Afghanistan and Bosnia — said that they were “shocked and saddened by the sudden death of our beautiful James,” who “was loved and will be missed by so many.”

“We have been overwhelmed by the support shown and the many kind words that have been shared by those who knew him,” the Kirby family said.

The family of James “Jim” Henderson, 33, said that they are “deeply shocked, saddened and upset at the untimely tragic death of Jim,” adding that he was a “kind, compassionate, loyal and considerate man, our shining light.”

And John Chapman, 57, said he was “an incredible husband, father, brother, son and friend who will be missed deeply and he was an inspiration to many.” 

All three families asked for privacy to grieve their losses.

Israel and Indonesia have been holding discussions over the last three months to normalize relations, two Israeli officials familiar with the matter told CNN Thursday. 

The establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel is a precondition for Indonesia’s entry into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which Jakarta is seeking to join. New entrants to the club of many of the world’s top economic powers must have diplomatic relations with all existing members, and existing members can veto applications from countries that want to join.

Israel is a member of the OECD.

Some key context: The establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Indonesia – which has the world’s largest Muslim population – could take years.

CNN has reached out to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry for comment.

The talks between Israel and Indonesia were first reported on Thursday by Israel’s Ynet news. The Jakarta Post last month cited Ari Dwipayana, a senior aide to President Joko Widodo, as denying an earlier press report that Indonesia was planning to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.

Earlier this week, Israel allowed an Indonesian Air Force jet to fly through Israeli air space to participate in the largest international air drop of aid to Gaza in a single day, involving nine countries and 14 aircraft. 

The top US humanitarian official said Wednesday it is “credible” to assess that famine is already happening in parts of Gaza.

Although US officials have been sounding the alarm about the imminent risk of famine in the war-torn strip, United States Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power is the first official to publicly agree with an assessment that famine is already taking place.

Power, speaking at a congressional hearing, was asked about an assessment from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and whether it “is plausible or likely that parts of Gaza, and particularly northern Gaza, are already experiencing famine.”

“The methodology that the IPC used is one that we had our experts scrub,” Power said. “It’s one that’s relied upon in other settings and that is their assessment and we believe that assessment is credible.”

“So there’s, famine is already occurring there?” the administrator was asked by Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro.
“That is – yes,” she replied.

Power noted that the rate of malnutrition in northern Gaza prior to October 7 “was almost zero. And it is now one in three … kids.”

Some background: An IPC analysis from March stated that all 2.2 million people in Gaza do not have enough food to eat, with half of the population on the brink of starvation and famine projected to arrive in the north “anytime between mid-March and May 2024.” It is unclear if this is the analysis cited in the hearing. CNN has reached out to USAID.

Why this matters: The assessment is likely to fuel further calls for the Biden administration to put restrictions on its military aid to Israel. Top officials, including the US president himself, have told Israeli officials they must do more immediately to address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza or risk changes in US policy.

Israel is preparing for “scenarios” in locations other than Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned during a visit to an Israeli airbase on Thursday. 

Tensions have been mounting throughout the Middle East following warnings from US officials that Iran could carry out an imminent attack on US or Israeli assets in the region. Iran has blamed Israel for a recent attack on its consulate in Syria which killed commanders from its elite Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

“We are in the midst of the war in Gaza, which is continuing at full force, even as we are continuing our relentless efforts to return our hostages. However, we are also prepared for scenarios involving challenges in other sectors,” Netanyahu said, according to a readout from his office. 

Speaking to Israeli air force personnel at the Tel Nof Air Base, south of Tel Aviv, the prime minister said Israel had developed a strategy in the face of potential attacks. “We have determined a simple rule: Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively,” Netanyahu explained. 

While at the base, the Israeli leader also received an update on Israel’s activity during the war in Gaza from the deputy base commander and squadron commander, according to his office. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are constructing a new land crossing from Israel to northern Gaza, according to a statement released Thursday.

The Israeli military said the new northern crossing will “enable more aid to flow directly to civilians in the areas that have been challenging for trucks to access.״ 

The United Nations and other humanitarian agencies have reported a catastrophic humanitarian situation in northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is imminent due to a lack of aid deliveries.

The report of a new crossing comes as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said late Wednesday that Israel was planning to “flood Gaza with aid,” amid intensifying pressure from the United States to urgently increase humanitarian assistance to the Gaza strip. 

COGAT, the Israeli agency that coordinates the inspection and delivery of humanitarian assistance for Gaza, said the daily number of trucks entering Gaza has doubled from last week’s numbers, but UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian affairs which tracks the flow of aid into Gaza, has not reported a similar increase.

A UNICEF worker whose aid convoy came under fire on Wednesday while waiting to enter northern Gaza told CNN the attack shows “how dangerous” it is for aid agencies to operate in the enclave right now. 

Tess Ingram who is a spokesperson for UNICEF said the convoy was waiting in a holding area before the checkpoint into northern Gaza when gunfire “broke out in the vicinity.” 

Ingram said shots were then fired from the direction of the crossing “towards civilians who then ran in the other direction.” The car Ingram was traveling in was caught in the line of fire and hit by three bullets, she recounted to CNN’s Max Foster. 

CNN has reached out to the IDF about the incident but has not yet received a reply. 

The convoy was a joint mission between UNICEF and fellow UN agency, UNRWA tasked with delivering fuel, nutrition and medical supplies to northern Gaza, according to Ingram. 

“It was shocking that this was happening to us on a coordinated mission in a designated holding area. We had colleagues outside the vehicle who very easily could have been injured or killed,” Ingram said. 

“This incident is just another example of how dangerous it is for us and for the people that we’re trying to serve in Gaza,” she added. 

Four grandchildren of Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip, according to a statement by Hamas.

Initial reports suggested three of his grandchildren were killed along with three of his sons on Wednesday. Hamas confirmed the names of Haniyeh’s grandchildren as Mona, Amal, Khalid and Razan.

Haniyeh’s relatives were killed near Al Shati (“Beach Camp”) north-west of Gaza City.

“They stood united with their people in one trench, joining the procession of about sixty martyrs from the honorable and heroic Haniyeh family, and the convoys of martyrs of our righteous and steadfast people in the battle of the Al-Aqsa flood,” the Hamas statement added.

The Israel Defense Forces told CNN it is aware of claims that other relatives of Haniyeh were harmed, among them a minor. The IDF added they had not verified this information.

Israel plans to “flood Gaza with aid,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, describing what he called a new phase of humanitarian assistance to the enclave. 

US pressure on Israel played a role in Israel’s decision to begin ramping up the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, he told reporters, saying Israel’s defense establishment “takes the United States very seriously.”

“We plan to flood Gaza with aid and we are expecting to reach 500 trucks per day,” Gallant said. “My recent visit to the United States was essential in determining next steps and reflecting the link between our operational goals and the humanitarian effort. 

COGAT, the Israeli agency coordinating aid into Gaza, said the daily number of trucks entering the enclave this week had doubled from last week.

But the UN’s main aid agency in Gaza, which tracks the flow of aid, has not reported a similar increase.

A CNN investigation last month found evidence of goods being subject to arbitrary and contradictory controls as authorities strive to prevent the entry of “dual use goods” which they say could also be used to “serve military needs for the strengthening of Hamas.”

UNICEF says one of its vehicles was hit by “live ammunition” while waiting to enter northern Gaza from the south of the territory on Wednesday.

In a statement released on X Thursday, UNICEF says the “incident has been raised with relevant Israeli authorities.”

“Sadly, humanitarians continue to face risks in delivering lifesaving aid,” the statement adds. “Unless humanitarian aid workers are protected, in accordance with IHL, humanitarian aid cannot reach people in need.”

CNN has reached out to the IDF about the incident but has not yet received a reply. 

Some context: The incident comes just a day after the Israeli agency that coordinates the inspection and delivery of humanitarian assistance for Gaza, COGAT, blamed the UN for failing to deliver aid across Gaza.

Iran’s foreign minister has spoken with his counterparts in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE by phone, the Iranian foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke with each counterpart individually and stressed the importance of cooperation regarding the situation in Gaza, the ministry said.

The phone calls come after US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk reportedly called the foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE to ask them to send a message to Iran and urge it to lower tensions with Israel. Reuters reported that the officials conveyed the message, citing a source.

Iran’s foreign minister also held a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the Iranian foreign ministry said Thursday. The ministers discussed the war in Gaza, as well as “reactions and consequences” of the attack on Iran’s consulate in Syria. 

Some context: The US and its allies have been bracing for a possible attack by Iran against Israeli and US assets in the Middle East in retaliation for a deadly strike last week on Iran’s consulate.

The US and Iran continued to exchange messages this week, a US official told CNN on Wednesday, as the US remains on high alert for the potential retaliation. The official said that Iran has warned the US not to support Israel, and the US has warned Iran against an attack.

Three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza Wednesday, an assassination that threatens to complicate ongoing negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the attack, describing the men as “three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip.”

Haniyeh said killing the sons of leaders would only make Hamas “more steadfast in our principles and adherence to our land.”

Israeli officials drew a distinction between the strike and the negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Two other Israeli officials said neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had been told about the strike ahead of time.

Here are the other developments in the region:

Hamas’ political leader said that killing the sons of leaders would only make the group “more steadfast in our principles and adherence to our land.”

Three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday, an assassination that threatens to complicate ongoing negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

“Whoever thinks that by targeting my kids during the negotiation talks and before a deal is agreed upon that it will force Hamas to back down on its demands, is delusional,” Haniyeh said in a statement.

The Israeli military confirmed that it carried out the attack and described the men as “three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip.”

Read the full story.

Germany’s Lufthansa airline has suspended flights to and from the Iranian capital of Tehran “due to the current situation in the Middle East,” according to a Reuters report on Wednesday, citing a Lufthansa spokesperson.

The decision was made after careful consideration, the spokesperson said, and will likely last until Thursday.

“We are constantly monitoring the situation in the Middle East and are in close contact with the authorities. The safety of our guests and crew members is Lufthansa’s top priority,” the spokesperson said. 

CNN has reached out to Lufthansa for confirmation. 

The airline’s decision comes after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to retaliate after accusing Israel of bombing the Iranian embassy complex in Damascus, Syria last week.

The airstrike, which Iran blamed on Israel, destroyed the consulate and killed seven Iranian officials, as well as at least six Syrians, according to Iranian state television.

The US remains on high alert for a potential retaliatory strike by Tehran against Israel. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said Iran was “threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel.” 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the US support for Israel and pledged the US “will stand with Israel against any threats by Iran and its proxies” in a call with Israel’s defense minister.

Blinken’s conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant comes as the US is on high alert for a potential attack by Iran or proxy groups against Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike on an Iranian facility in Damascus. 

The two leaders “also discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of all hostages through an agreement for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” according to a readout from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

“Blinken welcomed Israel’s recent announcements of urgent steps to facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and to improve humanitarian deconfliction and coordination, reiterating that incidents such as the strike on World Central Kitchen workers must never reoccur,” Miller said.

The top US diplomat also emphasized to Gallant that the US “expects Israel to quickly implement its commitments on humanitarian assistance and deconfliction and that those commitments must be sustained over time,” he said.

Israeli officials are scrambling to draw a sharp distinction between the Israeli airstrike that killed the children of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh and the ongoing negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Two other Israeli officials said neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had been informed about the strike ahead of time.

The comments from Israeli officials come after Haniyeh suggested the airstrike was an attempt to “force Hamas to back down on its demands” at the negotiating table.

President Joe Biden said the US remains stalwart in its commitment to protect Israel in the face of Iranian threats against the country.

Iran was “threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel” following the killings of Iranian generals at the Iranian consulate in Damascus last week, Biden said.

“As I’ve told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad.”

“We’re going to do all we can to protect Israel’s security,” he said.

Some context: CNN previously reported that senior US officials believe an attack by Iran is “inevitable” – a view shared by their Israeli counterparts. The US has been on high alert and actively preparing for a significant attack by Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region following the blasts in Syria.

The two governments are furiously working to get in position ahead of what is to come, as they anticipate that Iran’s attack could unfold in several different ways – and that both US and Israeli assets and personnel are at risk of being targeted.

The Israeli military said it killed three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said in a statement:

“Earlier today (Wednesday), directed by IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF (Israeli Air Force) aircraft struck three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip,” it said.
“The three operatives that were struck are Amir Haniyeh, a cell commander in the Hamas military wing, Mohammad Haniyeh, a military operative in the Hamas terrorist organization, and Hazem Haniyeh, also a military operative in the Hamas terror organization,” the statement continued.

The IDF said it confirmed that the three operatives are the sons of the Hamas political leader, who is the chairman of the political bureau. CNN is not able to independently confirm these IDF claims.

According to a CNN stringer in Gaza, a total of six family members of Haniyeh — three sons and three grandchildren — along with the driver of the car they were in, were killed in the airstrike.

The IDF and IAF statement did not make mention of anyone being killed in the strike except for Haniyeh’s three sons.

The Hamas political leader had said earlier that three of his sons and “a number of grandchildren” had been killed in the strike near Al Shati, northwest of Gaza City.

Reporting contributed by Khadr Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.

Hamas has indicated it is currently unable to identify and track down 40 Israeli hostages needed for the first phase of a proposed ceasefire deal, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions, raising fears that more hostages may be dead than are publicly known.

The framework laid out by negotiators proposes that during a first six-week pause in fighting, Hamas should release 40 of the remaining hostages, including all the women as well as sick and elderly men. In exchange, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli prisons.

Hamas has told international mediators – which include Qatar and Egypt — it does not have 40 living hostages who match those criteria for release, both sources said.

CNN’s record of the conditions of the hostages also suggests there are fewer than 40 living hostages who meet the proposed criteria.

The inability — or unwillingness — of Hamas to tell Israel which hostages would be released, alive, is a major obstacle, the second source added.

With Hamas appearing to be unable to reach 40 in the proposed categories, Israel has pushed for Hamas to fill out the initial release with younger male hostages, including soldiers, the Israeli official said.

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