February 18, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Israeli forces will expand military operations in Rafah if hostages held by Hamas are not returned by the start of Ramadan, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said Sunday.

The Muslim holy month is expected to start on March 10 or 11 and Gantz's comments appear to be the clearest deadline yet for Israeli military action in the southern Gaza city, where more than 1 million displaced Palestinians are taking shelter near the Egyptian border.

"We will do so in a coordinated manner, facilitating the evacuation of civilians in dialogue with our American and Egyptian partners to minimize civilian casualties."

Israel has said it plans to expand its ground operations into Rafah as part of its goal to destroy Hamas after the October 7 attacks. But there is growing concern that the roughly 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there will have nowhere to go.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told the Munich Security Conference Sunday that Israel is responsible for displacing millions of people in Gaza, and that Jordan "should not be responsible for cleaning Israel's mess" by allowing people into its borders. 

He also emphasized that Palestinians, including those in the occupied West Bank have rights that are embedded in international and humanitarian law.

Some context: Israel has said it plans to expand military operations into Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city on the border with Egypt, which has also spoken out against such an operation. There is growing concern that the roughly 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there will have nowhere to go.

On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel must enter Rafah to completely destroy Hamas, and claimed there is “a lot of space” north of the city for people to flee. Palestinians who spoke to CNN this weekend said nowhere is safe from Israeli bombardment, including the city of Deir al-Balah, where some have attempted to take refuge after leaving Rafah.

The Israel Defense Forces has repeatedly said it observes international law, that it does not target civilians and that Hamas uses people as human shields in Gaza.

At least 18 people have died following an Israeli airstrike on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Sunday, according to a spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the victims. Dozens of others were injured, the spokesperson and another doctor at the hospital said.

Most of those killed and wounded were children, the two health officials added. They fear the death toll could rise, as many are still missing, believed to be under the rubble.

CNN cannot independently verify the number of casualties on the ground.

A video obtained by CNN shows several people in the neighborhood digging under rubble with their bare hands, looking for survivors. Another video from Al-Aqsa hospital shows the bodies of small children shrouded in blankets as they were carried into the facility on stretchers with other victims.

According to witnesses, the strike directly hit a family home and damaged surrounding buildings. Neighbors and other witnesses told CNN the family had been sheltering about 40 displaced relatives who fled Rafah in the south over the past 48 hours. 

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the alleged airstrike Sunday. On Saturday, the military said it was targeting a series of Hamas "operational command and control centers" in central Gaza. 

Looming offensive: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Saturday there is "a lot of space" north of Rafah for people to flee if Israel proceeds with anticipated military operations against Hamas there. Roughly 1.5 million Palestinians are seeking shelter in the southern Gaza city near the border with Egypt — many already displaced from elsewhere in the enclave.

Some have fled to Deir al-Balah amid news of the coming offensive, United Nations officials said last week. But Sunday's reported strikes followed a series of strikes in the city on Saturday that killed at least 68 people, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Nasser Medical Complex, which was the largest functioning hospital in the Gaza Strip, is now out of service due to a raid over the past several days by Israeli forces, the World Health Organization and the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza said Sunday.

Around 200 patients remain in the medical facility, which WHO teams were not permitted to enter on Friday or Saturday, and at least 20 patients need to be "urgently referred" to other hospitals for medical treatment, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

These are the latest developments:

Israel said on Sunday it is summoning the Brazilian ambassador to the country over what it says were "shameful and serious" remarks by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Speaking earlier Sunday at the African Union summit, Lula called Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip a "genocide."

"What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has no parallel in history. Indeed, it occurred when Hitler decided to kill the Jews," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X that Lula is "trivializing" the Holocaust and "trying to harm the Jewish people and Israel's right to defend itself," saying that "comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line."

"Israel fights for its defense and securing its future until complete victory and it does so while upholding international law," he added.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also condemned the remarks in a post on X.

Israel has pledged not to stop its campaign in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed and all of the group's remaining hostages have been released, following its October 7 attacks on Israel.

More background: Last month, the top United Nations court called on Israel to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for Israel to immediately suspend its military campaign in the war-torn enclave.

South Africa, which accused Israel in the unprecedented case, argued Israel’s air and ground assaults on Gaza were intended to “bring about the destruction” of its Palestinian population.

Israel dismissed the case as “absurd blood libel” and insisted it goes to great lengths to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza.

CNN's Christian Edwards contributed reporting to this post.

The US says it conducted five strikes against three anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned underwater vessel and one unmanned surface vessel belonging to the Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea on Saturday.

This is the first time the Houthis have used an unmanned underwater vessel since the start of the group's recent spate of attacks in the region, according to US Central Command.

The targets were spotted in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, and the US "determined they presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region," CENTCOM said in a statement.

Why it matters: The use of an unmanned underwater vessel appears to mark a new strategy for the Houthis, and comes in spite of continued US airstrikes against the rebel group.

Remember: The Houthis, who are among several key Iranian-backed proxy groups in the region, have been attacking US targets and commercial shipping in the Red Sea since Israel launched its invasion of Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 attack last year.

Read more about Saturday's strikes here.

The European Union's top diplomat says the situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is a "real obstacle" for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding that peace in the Middle East cannot be achieved without a clear prospect for the Palestinian people.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Josep Borrell said the level of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased since the Hamas attacks on October 7 and has not been discussed enough.

Borrell added that he believes there is space for Europe to support a two-state solution, but for that, he said, Europe needs to be more united and must have the US "more than on board."

Key context: Under the Oslo Accords peace agreement of the 1990s, the plan was for Israel to gradually hand over control over more and more of the West Bank, but that has never happened. Israel has full administrative and security control over 60% of the area.

More than 700,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, land on which the Palestinians, along with the international community, want to establish a future Palestinian state. The settlements are considered illegal under international law and are widely seen as one of the main obstacles to a two-state solution.

While the areas where settlements encroach on Palestinian land have always been prone to violence, settler attacks on Palestinians have spiraled out of control in recent months.

CNN's Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting to this post.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi expressed their "firm opposition" Saturday to an Israel offensive in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, a readout of the call between the leaders from the French presidency said.

Macron and Sisi shared during the call their "extreme concern about the deterioration of the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the obstacles to the delivery of aid," stressing the need to urgently increase the aid flow into Gaza.

In Israel's sights: Two Israeli airstrikes on Rafah killed at least 13 Palestinians on Saturday, according to Dr. Marwan Al-Homss, the general director of Abu Yousuf Al-Najjar Government Hospital.

Israel has been bombarding Rafah with airstrikes for weeks and says it is committed to a ground offensive in the city, claiming there is room for displaced Palestinians to move north.

Palestinians there say they have nowhere to go. Some have tried to flee north to central Deir al-Balah, where doctors also reported deadly airstrikes Saturday.

The Israeli government on Sunday unanimously backed a decision to reject "international dictates" regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the beginning of a cabinet meeting that he would ask for a formal vote "in light of remarks that have been heard recently in the international community about an attempt to unilaterally force a Palestinian state on Israel."

Tension builds: Netanyahu told CNN earlier this month that he is "certainly willing" to let the Palestinians “have all the powers that they need to govern themselves, but none of the powers that can threaten us."

The issue of a Palestinian state has caused a rift between Israel and its closest ally, the United States, as US President Joe Biden continues to press for a two-state solution.

The UK has also said it would consider recognizing a Palestinian state, with the United Nations calling the opposition to one "unacceptable."