March 15, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

An Israeli delegation is likely traveling to Doha early next week for further talks on a ceasefire-hostage release deal, an Israeli official with direct knowledge told CNN Friday.

Israel's war cabinet will convene on Saturday evening to discuss and formulate the guidelines for the delegation, the official said.

The delegation will go to Doha after Hamas submitted a new response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators in the ongoing talks, which the source called "extreme and absurd."

A second Israeli official who spoke to CNN on Friday said Israel will make a decision by the end of Saturday about the scope of the mandate given to the negotiating team and will authorize the mediators to promote indirect negotiations with Hamas.

The delegation is expected to depart at the beginning of next week, the second Israeli official said.

The Israeli and Hamas delegations are both set to be in Doha at the same time, but not sitting in the same room.

US service members and their civilian counterparts in Newport News, Virginia, are working to load up the M/V Roy Benavidez, a roll-on/roll-off vessel that will transport critical cargo to help build out a floating pier off the coast of Gaza.

The vessel is carrying a roll-on/roll-off discharge facility (RRDF), which is a floating dock the size of a football field, Navy Capt. Jamie Murdock, commander of Military Sealift Command Atlantic, told reporters outside the Benavidez on Friday. 

“We've only been going for about a week, 10 days, at this point, since the word 'go,'" he said, adding that the vessel is nearly ready.

The Benavidez is being sent to the eastern Mediterranean Sea as part of the joint effort to establish a floating pier that will help facilitate the delivery of critical humanitarian aid in Gaza. Murdock said it is still being determined where specifically the Benavidez will go and when it will leave Virginia. Five total Army vessels have already left from Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.

Brian Carroll, the vessel master of the Benavidez, said he will have 44 civilian crew members on board supporting the military’s mission. 

"I talked to everybody: 'Be ready for the long-haul once we get out of station,'" Carroll said. 

The White House would not directly answer if US President Joe Biden thinks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace in Gaza, shortly after Biden praised a speech by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that strongly criticized Netanyahu. 

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in an interview with MSNBC that Biden "has great respect" for Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the US.

Pressed on if Biden agrees with Schumer, who said that Netanyahu was standing in the way of peace, Kirby said Biden “knows that the Israeli people get to determine who their elected government representatives are, that’s what democracy is all about, and he respects that.” He also said Biden had been “candid and forthright” in discussions with Netanyahu “about ways in which we think things can be done differently.” 

Asked again on if he thought Netanyahu was an obstacle to peace, Kirby reiterated that Biden would keep working with Netanyahu and the war cabinet to help alleviate suffering in Gaza. He said the White House has been "very, very frank" in discussions over the amount of aid reaching the enclave.

Yemen's Houthi rebels warned they would expand military operations against merchant shipping to the Indian Ocean, according to a spokesperson.

Houthi forces' spokesperson Yahya Saree said during a televised speech that the group wanted to prevent Israeli- and US-associated vessels from traversing the Indian Ocean toward the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa.  

It's a move that, if successful, could severely disrupt the primary diversion route used by commercial shipping to avoid the Houthi's attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. 

On Thursday, Abdul Malek Al-Houthi, leader of the Yemeni rebels' Houthi movement, announced intentions to prevent vessels "associated" with Israel from traversing toward the Cape of Good Hope from the Indian Ocean during a televised speech.

On Wednesday, a Houthi ballistic missile struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing three and injuring at least four.

Earlier this month, the United States and Western officials said the group launched more than 45 missile and drone attacks against commercial and US and coalition naval vessels operating in the Red Sea since the latest escalation in the region — most of which have been intercepted by US or coalition destroyers or landed harmlessly in the water.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that there are intense efforts underway to close the gap between Israel and Hamas after a counterproposal was put forward by Hamas in the ongoing talks for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.

Blinken said the fact that Israel has sent back a team to Doha to pursue the negotiations "reflects the sense both of possibility and of urgency to get an agreement, to get a ceasefire, to get the hostages back to get even more humanitarian assistance in." 

“This is something that we're committed to and we will work as long and as hard as it takes to get it done,” Blinken added.

The latest from sources involved: A diplomatic source told CNN that mediation efforts are moving in a positive direction "but are not there yet." Another diplomat familiar with the discussions told CNN that it "is not going to be easy to convince Israelis" to agree to the terms in Hamas’ latest response, adding that he’s waiting for the Israeli reply and "not celebrating yet."

The United Nations agency for children on Friday reported an increase in acute malnutrition rates among children in the northern Gaza Strip, with figures doubling within just one month.

According to findings published by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, "1 in 3 children under 2 years of age are today acutely malnourished in the north," citing information gathered from nutrition screenings conducted by UNICEF and its partners.

At least 23 children have died from malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza in recent weeks, UNICEF added.

UNICEF's screenings in February revealed that severe wasting, the most dangerous form of malnutrition, affects 4.5% of children in shelters and health centers, a condition that significantly increases the risk of death without immediate treatment.

The health ministry in Gaza reports that 13,450 Gazan children have been killed since October 7. 

Nongovernmental organization World Central Kitchen, which organized the first aid ship to Gaza, confirmed to CNN Friday that the first pallet of aid has been offloaded successfully into the besieged enclave. 

A spokesperson for the nonprofit, founded by chef José Andrés, said the pallet was offloaded after the ship's barge was connected successfully to the purpose-built jetty in central Gaza. The jetty was rapidly assembled by workers who began construction on or after March 10, according to satellite images provided to CNN by Maxar on Thursday. 

The Israeli military completed a security inspection on the ship and the aid it was carrying when it arrived, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Friday. The check was to ensure "compliance with safety standards," the IDF said.

WCK said it also hopes to send a second aid ship to Gaza soon and began loading new supplies onto a vessel docked in the Cypriot port of Larnaca on Friday. 

They also managed to load a large crane, which they hope "will assist with future maritime deliveries to Gaza." The NGO has not yet been able to confirm when this second ship will be able to set sail toward Gaza. 

More on aid to Gaza: With Palestinians in Gaza in dire need, any aid is welcome, but aid groups say maritime and airdropped aid should be complementary to land deliveries, not a substitute. Agencies and officials have repeatedly warned that no method of humanitarian relief can be as effective as delivery by land.

In a joint statement, 25 non-governmental organizations called on states to prioritize a ceasefire and increased land-based aid deliveries, warning that maritime aid may set a dangerous precedent that undermines land routes and allows for prolonged hostilities.

This post has been updated with comments from the IDF.

CNN’s Amir Tal and Eyad Kourdi contributed reporting to this post

US President Joe Biden described Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s floor speech criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “good,” saying the New York Democrat “expressed serious concern.”

He also said that Schumer had contacted his senior staff beforehand to let the White House know he’d be making the speech. 

The White House has not seen any plans from the Israeli government related to Rafah, a US National Security Council spokesperson told CNN, following comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office Friday approving "plans for action" in the southernmost Gazan city.

A spokesperson for Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces was preparing for both “the operational side” of a military operation, as well as for the “evacuation of the population.” More than a million Palestinians are in the city, with many of them having been forced to flee there since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.

US President Joe Biden said last weekend in an interview that he viewed Israel going into Rafah as a "red line," which the White House then attempted to walk back. White House officials have said repeatedly that the Biden administration would not condone Israel expanding its military operations into Rafah without a credible plan to protect civilians in the area. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed the comments during a news conference in Vienna on Friday with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.

CNN's Michael Conte contributed reporting to this post.