Our live coverage of Israel's war in Gaza has moved here.
May 8, 2024 Israel-Hamas war
By Kathleen Magramo, Sophie Tanno, Maureen Chowdhury, Tori B. Powell and Elise Hammond, CNN
Updated 12:07 a.m. ET, May 9, 2024
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Clashes break out between police and families of Gaza hostages in Tel Aviv
From CNN's Hande Atay Alam
Clashes between Israeli police and the family members of hostages held in Gaza broke out Wednesday night in Tel Aviv.
Police say two people were arrested after protestors pushed against barriers and confronted officers. Two police officers were slightly injured in the scuffle, the police statement said.
The police statement said officers continue to be present at the protest sites to maintain security and public order.
Natalie Zangauker, the sister of Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker, was among those injured during clashes.
In a social media video, Natalie Zangauker's mother sits next to her in the hospital room. Earlier in the protest, social media videos showed Zangauker on top of a car during the protests, holding pictures of her missing brother.
"This will not stop her tomorrow from going out to a public area while in pain to shout again, bring back Matan. Bring back the hostages. Stop the war with Hamas. This will not stop Natalie. This will not stop me. This will not stop us," Natalie's mom said in the video from the hospital room.
Norwegian Refugee Council said none of its trucks crossed Kerem Shalom Wednesday, organization says
From CNN's Natalie Barr and Audry Jeong
The Norwegian Refugee Council said none of its aid trucks managed to cross into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing on Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, Israel claimed the aid crossing had been reopened. However, Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told CNN's Isa Soares that although he heard the Kerem Shalom border crossing would open, "we have no trucks going over. I have heard of no humanitarian trucks over Kerem Shalom."
Egeland said the Norwegian Refugee Council had a few aid trucks enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing late last week, but since then, the NRC has run out of fuel and has no cash to rent a car or trucks to deliver the additional aid.
Asked for a reaction on the United States' decision to pause a shipment of bombs to Israel amid concerns over their potential use in a Rafah incursion, Egeland said:
“Finally, finally, how on earth could the United States, our closest ally in NATO, provide these indiscriminate, 2,000-pound bombs to an indiscriminate military campaign in a place filled with women and children that have no escape.”
On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said numerous launches were identified from the area of Rafah toward the Kerem Shalom Crossing but did not go into Israeli territory and fell in the Gaza Strip.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if it launches major invasion of Rafah
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
US President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt some shipments of American weapons to Israel – which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza – if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an exclusive interview, referring to 2,000-pound bombs that Biden paused shipments of last week.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem,” Biden said.
The president’s announcement that he was prepared to condition American weaponry on Israel’s actions amounts to a turning point in the 7-month conflict between Israel and Hamas. And his acknowledgement that American bombs had been used to kill civilians in Gaza was a stark recognition of the United States’ role in the war.
The president has come under extraordinary pressure, including from members of his own party, to limit shipments of arms amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The US has already paused a shipment of “high-payload munitions” due to Israel’s possible operations in Rafah without a plan for the civilians there, according to the Pentagon, though it said a final decision on that shipment hadn’t been made. The administration has said it is reviewing the potential sale or transfer of other munitions.
IDF denies burying Palestinians in third mass grave uncovered inside Al-Shifa hospital complex
From CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton
The Israel Defense Forces denied any involvement in the burials at the third mass grave found inside the Al-Shifa hospital complex.
"The claim that the IDF buried Palestinian bodies is baseless and unfounded. Hamas has turned Shifa Hospital into a terrorist stronghold by operating from within the complex — a choice they make repeatedly, using civilians and civilian infrastructure as human shields and cover-ups for Hamas’ violence," the IDF said in a statement to CNN Wednesday.
Remember: Palestinian medical teams discovered a third mass grave inside the Al-Shifa Hospital medical complex, retrieving an additional 49 bodies, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said in a statement.
According to the health ministry, it is the seventh mass grave found inside hospitals across Gaza. Aside from the three uncovered at Al-Shifa, one mass grave at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia and three at the Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis were discovered.
Gazan authorities said they have recovered 520 bodies in total from the graves.
3 mortar rounds land near intended offload site for Gaza pier, US defense official says
From CNN's Oren Liebermann
Three mortar rounds landed near the intended offload site for the Gaza pier used for humanitarian aid distribution on Wednesday, according to a US defense official.
The mortars did not cause any injuries or result in damage, the official said, but stressed that the information was based on initial reports of the attack. It is also not clear what the mortar launches were targeting at this point.
The official said the mortars did not damage the two sections of the humanitarian pier, which are not connected to the Gaza coastline at this time. The causeway that will ultimately connect to the coast remains offshore, while the floating pier is currently at the Israeli port of Ashdod following its completion.
Some background: The attack is similar to another round of mortars that impacted the same area two weeks ago. On April 24, a number of mortars landed near the offload site for the humanitarian aid that will eventually come off the pier. A US military official said at the time that they do not assess the attack had anything to do with the mission of the pier.
UN sounds alarm as no trucks with humanitarian aid have been able to enter Gaza. Here's the latest
From CNN staff
The United Nations on Wednesday voiced alarm Wednesday over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In an operational update, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that no goods for humanitarian operations entered the enclave through key crossings, exacerbating challenges amid active hostilities.
Dujarric emphasized the critical need for incoming supplies, including fuel, to sustain humanitarian efforts. The situation is urgent, with key medical facilities at risk of becoming inaccessible or inoperable, he said.
Meanwhile, The ongoing operation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Rafah has expanded from airstrikes to ground operations, which includes bulldozing, new satellite imagery obtained by CNN from Planet Labs shows.
Here are the latest developments:
- Israeli strikes: An Israeli airstrike in Gaza City killed at least eight people, including children, according to witnesses and Dr. Amjad Ailawa of the Al-Ahli Baptist hospital. No warning was given by the Israeli military before it struck a four-story building in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, eyewitnesses told CNN.
- US pauses shipment: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that the United States is pausing a shipment of “high-payload munitions” to Israel due to possible ground operations in Rafah without a plan for civilians in the southern Gaza city.
- US report on potential war crimes: The US State Department will not be delivering its report on whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law in Gaza to Congress on Wednesday. "We expect to deliver it in the very near future, in the coming days," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
- Mass graves: Palestinian medical teams discovered a third mass grave inside the Al-Shifa Hospital medical complex, retrieving an additional 49 bodies, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said in a statement.
- 50,000 people evacuate: "Roughly 50,000 people" have left Rafah in the last 48 hours as a result of Israel’s evacuation order, a senior staffer at the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees told CNN. "We've seen them go to Khan Younis, some have gone to the expanded humanitarian area of Al-Mawasi, others have gone to Deir al-Balah,” the staffer said.
- Hospital relocates: The largest hospital in eastern Rafah, Abu Yousef Al Najjar, has relocated to a makeshift facility in the central part of the city as a large-scale Israeli offensive looms.
- Kerem Shalom: The Kerem Shalom border crossing between southern Gaza and Israel has reopened for humanitarian aid, Israeli authorities said on Wednesday. However, the Gaza crossing authority said no aid trucks entered the enclave.
Republican congressional leaders blast Biden's decision to pause transfer of weapons to Israel
From Lauren Fox and Ted Barrett
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have issued a toughly worded joint letter to President Joe Biden blasting the administration for pausing the transfer of bombs to Israel.
“These recent press reports and pauses in critical weapons shipments call into question your pledge that your commitment to Israel’s security will remain Ironclad,” they wrote in a letter. “Despite regular engagement on security assistance in Israel, and repeated assurances from the most senior officials over the past several months, it was only after public press reports and subsequent engagement by our offices that we learned from your staff that a review of specific weapons shipment was underway.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US paused a shipment of bombs to Israel. He said the US is concerned that they could potentially be used in a ground operation in Rafah without a plan for civilians there.
In the letter Johnson and McConnell ask the administration to respond by the end of the week as to whether or not there will be any other delays in weapons transfers based on the ongoing review.
The State Department said that it would not be delivering its report on whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law during its war in Gaza to Congress on Wednesday, as expected. A spokesperson said the department is still finishing the report.
Israeli airstrikes kill 4 people in western Rafah neighborhood, hospital says
From CNN’s Abeer Salman
Four people were killed and around two dozen others were injured in Israeli airstrikes in the Tal Al Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah on Wednesday, according to the Al Kuwaiti hospital.
The four deceased bodies and more than 25 injured people have arrived at the hospital, which is located in central Rafah.
Al Kuwaiti hospital also said most of those injured are children, and two people are in critical condition.
CNN reached out to the Israeli military for comment on this incident.
CNN footage shows casualties arriving at the Al Kuwaiti hospital following strikes in western Rafah. The footage shows what appears to be a corpse and two body bags. It also shows panicked children arriving in ambulances without their parents and one barely responsive child with a heavily bandaged arm being carried on a stretcher.
The hospital said earlier it had begun expanding into makeshift facilities to try and accommodate more patients.
After the closure and relocation of the Abu Yousef Al Najjar hospital, Al Kuwaiti — along with the European hospital — are the only hospitals remaining in Rafah. According to the World Health Organization they are only “partially operating.”
