Our live coverage of Israel's war with Hamas has moved here.
March 4, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war
By Chris Lau, Sana Noor Haq, Antoinette Radford, Aditi Sangal, Maureen Chowdhury and Elise Hammond, CNN
Updated 12:00 a.m. ET, March 5, 2024
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Israel recalls UN ambassador after claiming there was "attempt to silence" report on sexual assaults
From CNN's Amir Tal in Jerusalem and Richard Roth at the UN
Israel has recalled its United Nations ambassador after what the country's foreign minister said was an "attempt to silence" the UN report on the mass sexual assault committed by Hamas on October 7.
"I ordered our ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, to return to Israel for immediate consultations regarding the attempt to silence the serious UN report on the mass rapes committed by Hamas and its aides on October 7th," Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz said in a statement on X.
Katz said UN Secretary-General António Guterres should have convened the UN Security Council to review the report's findings or declare Hamas a terror organization and didn't.
However, the secretary-general's office said Guterres never ordered the UN sexual violence report to be kept quiet.
“On the record. The SG has fully supported the work of Pramila Patten in her visit to Israel to look into conflict related acts of sexual violence linked to the 7 October terror attacks. The work was done thoroughly and expeditiously. In no way, shape or form did the Secretary-General do anything to keep the report 'quiet,'" the office said.
Devastation in Gaza reinforces urgency of ongoing ceasefire talks. Here's what to know today
From CNN staff
The Biden administration is continuing to call for more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza while it faces backlash for its ongoing military support to the Israeli government in the face of human rights abuse allegations. Still, the US reaffirmed Monday it will continue to provide military assistance to Israel, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Negotiations continue for an agreement on a temporary ceasefire to release hostages from Gaza — but Israel is absent from the talks.
Meantime, more children have died of dehydration and malnutrition in Gaza as conditions in the enclave deteriorate further, a Palestinian Ministry of Health spokesperson said.
Here are the top headlines:
- Israeli minister in Washington, DC: Israeli war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main political rivals, held meetings with high-level US officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris, during a three-day trip to Washington. An Israeli official said Gantz does not represent the government, amid evident aggravation from the Israeli prime minister and his allies about the trip. The White House defended Gantz's visit, emphasizing that Gantz is part of Israel's war cabinet. Harris said the meetings will focus on a ceasefire deal to release the remaining hostages in Gaza.
- Israel not at ceasefire talks: Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators are meeting in Cairo to untangle deadlocked ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas after Israel said it would not send a delegation. The decision to skip the talks was made by Netanyahu, an Israeli official said.
- Investigation on hostages: A UN team found evidence that hostages in Gaza were raped, according to Pramila Patten, the UN special envoy on sexual violence and women. Patten said there is “clear and convincing information” that some hostages were taken to Gaza and subjected to sexual violence and “reasonable grounds” to believe the sexual violence is ongoing. Israel believes that 130 hostages remain in Gaza — 99 of whom are believed to be alive.
- Allegations from UN aid agency: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees accused Israel of detaining and torturing some of its staffers, coercing them into making false confessions about the agency’s ties to Hamas. Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said the false confessions were being used to spread misinformation but did not tie those confessions to the allegations against the 12 staffers accused of participating in the October 7 attacks.
- On the ground in Gaza: There is no more space to bury the dead in one of Gaza’s main cemeteries, its caretaker said Monday. The Gaza Ministry of Health said Monday that 124 people were killed in the past 24 hours. At least eight people were killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike on an aid distribution truck in central Gaza, according to the health ministry. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement Sunday it “eliminated” a Hamas terrorist in "an aerial strike in the central Gaza strip."
Palestinian ambassador says suspension of funding to UN aid organization in Gaza is exacerbating suffering
From CNN's Richard Roth in New York and Amy Cassidy in London
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations appealed to the international community not to abandon Palestinians in their “hour of need," as representatives debate the funding status of UNRWA, the primary aid agency in Gaza and for Palestinian refugees in the region.
Several countries continue to withhold funding to UNRWA, or United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, amid allegations from Israel that a number of its staff members were involved in the October 7th attacks.
The ambassador, Riyad Mansour, told the UN General Assembly in New York that the decision to suspend funding, “whether intentionally or not” is "exacerbating the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, which Israel is perpetrating on a scope and scale unseen in modern history.”
Mansour said the assembly "cannot look away" from "Israel’s continued obstruction of (UNRWA's) humanitarian services and a defamation campaign that has thrown its financial situation into turmoil after the sudden suspension of funding by several major donors.”
Some background: Earlier Monday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency is facing a "financial crisis." Following Israel's claims, 16 countries have paused their funding to the organization, "totaling 450 million dollars," he said.
UN Palestinian relief agency says it is facing "financial crisis" after allegations of October 7 involvement
From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Richard Roth
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is currently facing a "financial crisis" after Israeli authorities said several of the organization's staff were "allegedly" involved in the October 7 attack.
Following the Israeli "allegations," 16 countries have paused their funding to UNRWA, "totaling 450 million dollars," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a speech addressing the UN General Assembly on Monday.
"UNRWA has no capacity to absorb financial shocks, especially while a war rages in Gaza," Lazzarini said.
In response to Israel's allegations, Lazzarini said "an independent investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight Services was launched to establish the facts and is ongoing." The UN secretary-general also commissioned "an independent review of our approach to risk management and neutrality," Lazzarini said.
Lazzarini said UNRWA "is at a breaking point," explaining its creation 75 years ago by the UN General Assembly "as a temporary UN entity pending a just political solution to the question of Palestine, the agency's ability to fulfill its mandate is seriously threatened."
"Your urgent action is needed to facilitate a political solution that will bring peace to Palestinians and Israelis, and in this context alone, allow the agency to transition," Lazzarini said.
Lazzarini urged "those member states that are seeking alternatives to UNRWA to do so in a way that does not compromise Palestine refugees' right to self-determination and aspiration to a just and lasting solution to their plight."
Hamas says "there is no way to know the fate" of Israeli hostages in Gaza until there is a complete ceasefire
From CNN's Abeer Salman and Mohammed Tawfeeq
Basem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, told CNN Monday from Istanbul, Turkey, that "there is no way to know the fate" of Israeli hostages held in Gaza" until a ceasefire deal is reached and implemented.
"It is not possible to know any details about the fate of the Israeli prisoners because they are in different locations and with different factions, we do not know their fate under the bombardment and the starvation policy," Naim told CNN. "Therefore, we need a ceasefire in order to gather information."
Israel believes that 130 hostages remain in Gaza — 99 of whom are believed to be alive — following Hamas' October 7 attacks that killed around 1,200 people in Israel.
US will continue to support Israel militarily, State Department says
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
The United States will continue to support Israel with military assistance, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday — despite the government’s refusal to open more crossings for humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“We continue to support Israel's campaign to ensure that the attacks of October 7 cannot be repeated. We have provided military assistance to Israel because it is consistent with that goal,” Miller said at a briefing.
Miller said that “the leadership of Hamas that planned and plotted October 7 continue to be at large inside Gaza” and “they continue to pose a threat to innocent civilians inside Israel.”
“We support Israel's legitimate military campaign consistent with international humanitarian law and that's why we continue to support them militarily,” he added.
The Biden administration has faced backlash for its ongoing military support to the Israeli government in the face of human rights abuse allegations and for consistently suggesting that it would not use that assistance as leverage to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Miller on Monday said that there is more that the Israeli government “can do and more that they should do” to address the humanitarian crisis on the ground.
White House defends decision to meet with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz
From CNN's Donald Judd
The Biden administration defended its decision to host Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Monday for a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Israeli officials have insisted that Gantz does not represent the government during his visit this week.
“A member of the war cabinet from Israel wants to come to the United States, wants to talk to us about the progress of that war, giving us an opportunity to talk about the importance of getting humanitarian assistance, increased opportunity to talk about the importance of this hostage deal, we're not going to turn away that sort of opportunity,” said John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson.
Gantz, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main political rivals, is expected to meet with senior Biden administration officials without the Israeli ambassador present, which is at odds with the standard protocol when leaders of foreign governments visit.
Kirby noted the meeting was at the request of Gantz.
Kirby wouldn’t say if there were plans for President Joe Biden to smooth things over with Netanyahu after reports the prime minister was “enraged” over Gantz’s visit.
Kirby added:
“We certainly recognize Prime Minister Netanyahu as the elected prime minister of the government of Israel, and we will continue to deal with him and with his entire war cabinet — and Mr. Gantz is a part of that war cabinet.”
UN team found "clear and convincing information" some Gaza hostages were sexually abused, top official says
From CNN’s Richard Roth
A United Nations team has found “clear and convincing information" that hostages in Gaza were sexually abused, Pramila Patten, the UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict told reporters on Monday. There are “reasonable grounds” to believe the sexual violence is ongoing, she added.
Patten said the team also found “reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and gang rape" occurred during Hamas’ October 7 terror attack in Israel, in what is the most definitive finding by the global organization on sexual assault allegations in the aftermath of the attack.
The UN team visited Israel between January 29 to February 14 for a mission “aimed at gathering, analyzing, and verifying information on conflict-related sexual violence” during October 7 and its aftermath, according to a 24-page report.
Patten stressed that the mission “was neither intended nor mandated to be investigative in nature,” adding that the team had 33 meetings with Israeli institutions while in Israel, interviewed 34 people, including survivors and witnesses to the October 7 attack, and released hostages, as well as reviewed 50 hours of footage of the attacks.
The mission was not able to meet with any victims of sexual violence on October 7 “despite our efforts,” Patten said. “On the very first day, I made a call for survivors to come forward. But we received information that a handful of them were receiving very specialized trauma treatment and were not prepared to come forward,” she said.
Hamas has previously denied that its militants committed rape during the October 7 attack.
Read more here about the report
The headline and the post were updated with more details on the report.
