March 13, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

A ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza is en route from Cyprus, according to nonprofit World Central Kitchen, which said it was the first maritime shipment of humanitarian aid to the enclave.  

The departure comes after announcements that Cyprus, the European Union, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom were working to establish a maritime corridor to deliver aid to Gaza.

World Central Kitchen said it planned to distribute supplies for roughly 500,000 meals once the vessel reaches Gaza, including rice, flour, beans, lentils, and canned meats.

The UN welcomed the news of the shipment but stressed it was “not a substitute” for overland assistance to Gazans on the verge of famine. 

The UN World Food Programme said a food convoy reached Gaza City on Tuesday —the first to successfully access the northern part of the enclave since February 20.

Here's what to know:

The Houthis fired a close-range ballistic missile from Yemen toward the USS Laboon in the Red Sea on Tuesday, US Central Command said.

The missile did not hit the guided-missile destroyer, which is homeported in Norfolk, Virginia, CENTCOM said. There were no injuries or damage reported.

US forces and a coalition ship also destroyed two drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, CENTCOM said.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have been targeting ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since shortly after Israel's war with Hamas began, with the group trying to pressure Israel and its allies to stop its offensive in Gaza.

Six humanitarian trucks containing aid from the United Nations' World Food Programme entered the northern Gaza Strip using a new route, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

The IDF tried out a pilot program by bringing in aid trucks to Gaza through the "96th" gate on the security fence Tuesday.

Government officials will assess the pilot's results.

An Israeli border police officer fatally shot a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in Shuafat refugee camp located in occupied east Jerusalem, according to hospital officials and an Israeli police spokesperson.

In a video obtained by CNN, the boy – Rami Al Halhouli – can be seen holding a lit firework above his head before the crackling sound of a single gunshot is heard. The boy falls to the ground just as the firework launches from his hand into the sky.

Rami arrived at Hadassah Mount Scopus hospital's trauma unit in critical condition and was pronounced dead soon after, hospital officials told CNN.

No security forces are visible in the video of Rami holding the firework, but the boy appears to be standing in front of the West Bank separation barrier.

The Israeli police spokesperson said police forces responded to a “violent disturbance” at the refugee camp and a border police officer fired “towards a suspect who endangered the forces while firing aerial fireworks in their direction.”

The police spokesperson also claimed individuals on Tuesday night threw Molotov cocktails and fired fireworks directly at security forces. Israeli police said it was the second night in a row that Palestinians in Shuafat aimed Molotov cocktails and fireworks at police forces.

In a Telegram post, Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded the soldier who fatally shot the boy.

The shooting came on the third night of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which has been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in previous years.

Also on Tuesday, Israeli troops fatally shot two other Palestinians at Al-Jib checkpoint in the northern outskirts of Jerusalem, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported.

A pier that will help deliver 2 million meals a day to Gaza is expected "to be fully operational in approximately 60 days," Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said at a press briefing Tuesday.

Ryder did not provide the location of the planned pier. Currently, there is no existing port in Gaza that could handle that level of aid, requiring the construction of a floating pier. The US plans to send more ships to the Middle East to help build the pier, the Pentagon said.

Four US Army vessels left Tuesday with equipment and supplies needed to construct a floating pier and causeway capable of offloading goods and meals into Gaza, Ryder said. The US ships include US Army Vessel SP4 James A. Loux, US Army Vessel Monterey, US Army Vessel Matamoros, and US Army Vessel Wilson Wharf.

Over the weekend, the US announced that the Army’s Gen. Frank S. Benson support vessel, a logistics and cargo ship, would be deploying to the Mediterranean Sea.

The US is also preparing to send the US naval ship Roy P. Benavidez — a cargo ship operated by Military Sealift Command — to assist with construction of the pier, according to a Navy spokesman.  

Israeli troops fatally shot two Palestinians and wounded three others at Al-Jib checkpoint in the northern outskirts of Jerusalem, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported Tuesday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they fired at the Palestinians after they threw Molotov cocktails over a security barrier fence onto Route 436, which runs from the Ramot neighborhood in occupied east Jerusalem to the Israeli settlement Givat Ze'ev.

The IDF said these actions were "endangering the lives of civilians and road users."

After opening fire, the IDF said they apprehended the Palestinians and transferred them for medical treatment.

The two people who died were identified as Zaid Ward Shukri Khalifa, 23, and Abdullah Mamoun Hassan Assaf, 16, the Health Ministry said.

Children in Gaza are experiencing "relentless mental harm" after five months of war, hunger, displacement and years of blockade, according to Save the Children, an NGO that talked to mental health services and four parents in Gaza. 

In a report released on Tuesday, one parent told the organization:

Another said:

The collapse of health care and psychological services in Gaza limits the possibility that children will get the treatment they need to recover, according to the report.

Director of Save the Children for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Jason Lee said there is hope the psychological impacts of the war could be reversed with support, but that "none this is possible without an immediate, definitive ceasefire and safe, unfettered aid access so that humanitarians can provide the critical support needed."

Dual US-Israeli citizen Itay Chen was killed on October 7 during the Hamas attacks on Israel, the Israeli military announced Tuesday.

The Israel Defense Forces said Chen's remains were taken into Gaza after he was killed.

Chen was serving on the Gaza border on October 7, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said on Tuesday. He was the middle child of three siblings, a former Boy Scout, and a fierce basketball player, his father Ruby Chen told CNN in November.

According to his father, Chen had his 20th Jewish birthday in January – a date his family marked with a small ceremony at a synagogue in New York City as they desperately waited for good news. 

Chen was one of six US citizens thought to have been held alive in Gaza. He is at least the fourth dual US citizen whose body is being held in Gaza, along with those of Aviv Atzili and husband and wife Gad Haggai and Judih Weinstein Haggai.

Officials in US President Joe Biden's administration said they were informed of Chen's death by Israeli officials on Tuesday, according to a source.

Thirty-two of the 130 October 7 hostages are now believed to be dead, according to CNN records. Israel continues to consider people to be hostages even after their death until their remains are returned.

Lauren Izso and CNN’s Ivana Kottasova, MJ Lee and Priscilla Alvarez contributed reporting.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has said that a truck loaded with aid was turned back because it had scissors used in children's medical kits.

He said that the lives of 2 million people depend on the "clearance of humanitarian supplies + the delivery of basic & critical items," adding there is "no time to waste."

CNN has previously reported that humanitarian workers and government officials working to deliver urgently needed aid for Gaza say a clear pattern has emerged of Israeli obstruction, as disease and near-famine conditions grip parts of the besieged enclave.