March 15, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

The Israel Defense Forces says that a preliminary review has found that Israeli forces “did not open fire at the at the aid convoy in Kuwait Square” in northern Gaza on Thursday night, when more than 20 people waiting for food aid were reported killed.

The IDF said that on Thursday it had “facilitated the passage of a convoy of 31 humanitarian aid trucks containing food and supplies intended for distribution to civilians in the northern Gaza Strip.”

“Approximately one hour before the arrival of the convoy to the humanitarian corridor, armed Palestinians opened fire while Gazan civilians were awaiting the arrival of the aid convoy. As aid trucks were entering, the Palestinian gunmen continued to shoot as the crowd of Gazans began looting the trucks. Additionally, a number of Gazan civilians were run over by the trucks.”

The statement said the IDF is continuing to review the incident. It also accused Hamas of a smear campaign “with the aim of spreading baseless misinformation for the sake of instigating violence in other arenas.”

What Gaza health ministry says: The ministry says at least 20 people were killed and 155 wounded by Israeli shelling as they waited for aid late on Thursday, as desperate Palestinians increasingly face deadly violence in their search for food. 

Graphic footage from the immediate aftermath of the scene filmed by an eyewitness showed multiple bodies with traumatic injuries as well as pools of blood on a street strewn with rubble and dust. 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said Friday he is hoping for a ceasefire in Gaza “in the next few days, at most.”

The president said there must be an increase in the entry of aid into Gaza, and Palestinians displaced in central and southern Gaza should be allowed to move back to the north. 

Some background: Talks around a ceasefire appeared to be at a standstill after CNN reported last week that a ceasefire deal in Gaza was unlikely to happen by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which the Biden administration had been aiming for, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

The United States has drafted a fresh resolution to put to the UN Security Council that expresses concern about any Israeli ground offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza and says that an initial truce, if and when agreed, should “lay the foundation for a sustainable ceasefire.” 

It proposes that the Security Council “unequivocally supports international diplomatic efforts to establish an immediate and sustained ceasefire as part of a deal that releases the hostages, and that allows the basis for a more durable peace to alleviate humanitarian suffering." 

Elsewhere in the draft resolution, the United States proposes that the Security Council emphasize “its concern that a ground offensive into Rafah would result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement including potentially into neighboring countries, and would have serious implications for regional peace and security.”

Key context: The draft is subject to further changes and amendments and is not yet scheduled for a vote.

As proposed, the draft suggests that the US is underlining its insistence that a temporary halt in hostilities be linked to efforts to reach a long-term ceasefire.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s warning that Israel risked becoming a “pariah” and his call for new elections marked a momentous moment in modern US-Israel relations.

Schumer’s rebuke of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday contained extraordinarily strong language for a senior US politician criticizing the Israeli government. It was all the more remarkable coming from the New York Democrat who has a long record of staunch support for the Jewish state.

The Senate floor speech was also an unmistakable sign of increasing frustration among top Democrats about Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks that killed 1,200 people and his unwillingness to listen to US advice. It also reflects political realities in the United States.

The deaths of more than 30,000 Palestinians in the conflict, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, have outraged US progressives, Arab Americans and younger voters in the US – all key parts of President Joe Biden’s coalition as he seeks reelection.

Read the full analysis here.

The latest response from Hamas in the talks for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza will be submitted to the Israeli War Cabinet and Security Cabinet on Friday, Israel's Prime Minister's Office said.

In response to the latest proposal, the office said that "Hamas is continuing to hold to unrealistic demands."

CNN has previously reported that the first phase of a deal had been expected to include a six-week humanitarian pause, the release of around 40 Israeli hostages, and a large number of Palestinian prisoners. The hostages would be the remaining Israel women - including IDF soldiers, the elderly, sick and wounded.

Sticking points: Hamas had refused to send Israel a list of all the hostages believed to be alive or dead. Hamas has been asking for a large number of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged, additional aid into the strip, and the IDF to withdraw from Gaza in a second phase.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told CNN’s Becky Anderson this week that the two sides are “engaged in constructive dialogue between both sides, the situation on the ground is very much difficult, and we are nowhere near a deal at the moment.”

A group of civilians gathered on Gaza's shoreline told CNN that they were waiting "patiently" for an aid ship that was approaching the enclave on Friday morning.  

The ship organized by NGO World Central Kitchen set off from Cyprus on Tuesday and is less than 10km (6.2 miles) from the coast. 

A father named Ibrahim who was among the group of civilians said it was "not clear" how the 200 tons of food aid onboard the ship would be distributed. 

World Central Kitchen previously told CNN it had engaged a huge number of volunteers and contractors to help organize and distribute the aid when it is unloaded at a purpose-built jetty. 

Speaking to a journalist working for CNN, Ibrahim said he hoped the food would be enough to help those on the brink of starvation. 

Ibrahim said he would take any aid he received directly to his children, who had gone a long time without certain food items. 

An aid ship bound for Gaza is less than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) off the coast, according to MarineTraffic.com data.

The aid ship departed Cyprus on Tuesday with 200 tons of food onboard, according to World Central Kitchen, a non-profit that said it is the first maritime shipment of aid to Gaza.

Eyewitnesses in the northern part of Gaza told CNN on Friday that they could see a white non-military cargo ship off the coast — something Gazans don't often see — and that it is within the maritime borders of the enclave and being accompanied by an Israeli military ship.

CNN has asked the Israeli military for confirmation.

WCK has partnered with the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, and the Spanish charity Open Arms to coordinate the dispatch.

Brink of famine: Israel’s siege on Gaza has drastically diminished essential supplies entering the strip, where Palestinians are facing starvation, dehydration and hunger.

As Israel continues to restrict the entry of aid via land crossings, countries are trying to get aid into the enclave via air and sea routes, as more than two million people in Gaza await desperate aid.

The United Nations World Food Programme has said people in Gaza are facing "crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity". 

Hope is fading for the imminent return of the international crew of a cargo ship hijacked by the Houthis last year, with a Filipino diplomat saying he does not expect a release until the war in Gaza is over and the Houthis saying the sailors' fate is now in Hamas’ hands.

A Houthi-owned helicopter hijacked the Galaxy Leader cargo ship on November 19 in the Red Sea, as rebel gunmen laid siege to the vessel and took the ship’s crew of 17 Filipinos, two Bulgarians, three Ukrainians, two Mexicans and a Romanian hostage.

It’s been more than 116 days since the hijacking and there is no indication that the Houthis are open to releasing them until the hostilities end, according to a senior Filipino government official.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been striking ships in the Red Sea since late last year, which they say is retaliation against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.

The Houthis said Thursday they had handed over the decision about the release of the Galaxy Leader to Hamas.

Read more on the crew held hostage in the Red Sea.

A merchant ship in the Red Sea was “struck by a missile,” resulting in damage to the vessel, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said Friday in a warning note.

The British maritime tracking agency said the incident happened 76 nautical miles west of Yemen’s western port city of Hodeidah. It did not specify the nationality or flag of the vessel.

UKMTO said that the crew was reported safe and the vessel was proceeding to its next port of call.

Red Sea attacks: In recent weeks, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been stepping up strikes on commercial ships in the Red Sea, in attacks that they say are retaliation against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.

The US and UK have deployed anti-ship missiles and other weapons to intercept the Houthi attacks in the economically vital waterway.